Four Tops singer Alexander Morris is suing a hospital he claimed branded him “delusional” after he told them he was a member of the group.
The musician — who joined the legendary Motown group in 2019 — is taking legal action against Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital in Michigan, who he alleged denied him medical care. Instead, according to his allegations, the staff restrained him for an hour and a half and ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation because the staff “wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill when he revealed his identity as a celebrity figure.”
Morris has a history of cardiac disease. He explained he was rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pains and difficulty breathing while on tour. On arrival at the emergency room, he told staff he had “current security concerns due to stalkers and fans” but then alleged in his complaint that employees didn’t believe he was a member of the Four Tops and took him off oxygen, pursuing a psychological evaluation instead.
The singer alleged his requests for oxygen were “ignored” and he was put in a restraining jacket before denying his request to be released so he could leave and seek treatment elsewhere. He also claimed the white security guard told him to “sit his Black ass down” when he asked if he could show his ID to prove his identity.
Morris’ wife eventually joined him at the hospital, where he told her that “the doctors thought he was delusional.”
His spouse confirmed his identity, but staff only believed him when he showed footage of his performing at the Grammy Awards.
According to the complaint, at that point, the evaluation was canceled and the jacket removed, with Morris — who suffered three seizures that day — then put back on oxygen and ultimately diagnosed with a heart infarction.
“When our client presented to the hospital he was racially profiled. The hospital staff and security guard were quicker to assume Mr. Morris was psychotic than successful because he was a Black man,” his attorneys Maurice Davis and Jasmine Rand said in a statement to People.
“Even if he was mentally ill he was still in the middle of a clear medical emergency that necessitated swift medical intervention,” Davis and Rand continued. “The hospital had no excuse to deny him emergency medical treatment.”
The singer claimed he was offered a $25 gift card to a local superstore “as an apology” but refused the gift.
The hospital, a nurse and a security guard a listed as defendants, but the latter appears to have passed away in September.
“The health, safety and well-being of our patients, associates and community members remains our top priority,” a spokesperson for the medical facility told People. “We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community. We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind. We will not comment on pending litigation.”
