Alexander Morris, the lead singer of Motown’s legendary Four Tops, sued Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital for racial discrimination after he says staff assumed he was “delusional” and placed him in a restraining jacket in April.
The talented singer joined the legendary vocal quartet in 2018 and attended the hospital displaying “clear symptoms of cardiac distress,” according to NBC News. He was placed on oxygen after expressing he had difficulty breathing and felt chest pain. The lawsuit filed Monday in the Eastern District of Michigan says when the nurse and a security guard believed he was lying about being a member of the Four Tops, they ordered a psychological evaluation and forced him into restraints for at least an hour and a half, according to NBC News.
Morris noted his role as a singer for safety purposes due to potential stalkers and fans, but they allegedly didn’t believe him, the lawsuit reads. He has accused the hospital, a nurse and a security guard of negligence, racial discrimination, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, NBC reported.
“It was a terrifying experience to be in the middle of a medical emergency, to be placed into restraints, to have my oxygen turned off, my personal effects taken from me, and no help from the doctors and nurses because of the color of my skin,” Morris said in a statement, according to NBC News. “Racial profiling nearly cost me my life.”
HENLEY-ON-THAMES, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Alexander Morris of The Four Tops performs at Rewind South on August 17, 2019 in Henley-on-Thames, England. (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns) Getty Images
The suit pointed to the singer’s “significant known history of cardiac disease,” including the placement of stents and defibrillator, NBC reported.
Morris said he pleaded with a nurse to let him show her social media footage that proved his identity. He was immediately removed from the restraints when the staff realized he wasn’t lying about his identity, according to NBC. He required five days in hospital for medical care.
Morris was diagnosed “with a heart [infarction] that may require a heart transplant, pneumonia, and he suffered three seizures during his stay,” according to NBC News.
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“He was told he was not free to leave; thus, he was falsely imprisoned and deprived of his personal property. During this time his medical condition continuously declined and he was denied the medical treatment he desperately needed,” the lawsuit alleges, according to TMZ.
BERLIN, GERMANY – OCTOBER 30: (L-R) Lawrence Payton Jr., Alexander Morris, Ronnie McNeir and Abdul Duke Fakir of The Four Tops perform at Admiralspalast on October 30, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Pedro Becerra/Redferns) Getty Images
The hospital offered Morris a $25 gift card to Meijer as an apology, but he refused it, NBC News reported. (RELATED: REPORT: Aspiring Rapper Allegedly Murders Grandparents, Walks Into Psych Ward Covered In Blood)
“It doesn’t matter a person’s color, creed, nationality, ethnicity, orientation, or what have you. A human life is worth more than $25,” Morris told TMZ.
Morris is seeking more than $75,000 in damages at a jury trial.
