Alexander Morris, the singer in the American Motown group The Four Tops, has sued a Michigan hospital. Morris has alleged false imprisonment and that staff at the hospital racially discriminated against him.
Rolling Stone reports that the musician has filed a lawsuit against the Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital. Morris alleges that he was put in a straitjacket after he revealed he was in The Four Tops. Initially, he went to the said hospital on 7 April 2023, presenting to the emergency department with apparent chest pain and difficulty breathing.
Upon telling hospital staff of his profession, Morris claimed that staff “wrongfully assumed” he had a mental illness and had him placed in a “restraining jacket”. Morris also alleged that staff removed his oxygen, despite the apparent chest pain and difficulty breathing, and ordered a psychological evaluation.
Morris claimed that he was subjected to racial discrimination, stating that a white male security guard told him to “sit his Black ass down” and that staff didn’t look over his “significant” history of cardiac disease.
Morris said he was only released from the straitjacket after he convinced a nurse to watch a YouTube video of him performing with the Four Tops at the Grammy Awards. Morris’ lawsuit claims he eventually received a diagnosis of a “severe heart condition and pneumonia”.
Morris’s lawyer, Maurice Davis, told Rolling Stone that the singer “could have died”. Davis added, “Instead of providing him with treatment, they were restraining him. He was going through a pretty serious medical situation, and he was mistreated and discriminated against.”
Ascension Hospital also issued a statement to Rolling Stone: “We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind.
“The health, safety and well-being of our patients, associates and community members remains our top priority. We remain committed to honouring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community.”
Alexander Morris joined The Four Tops in 2019 and performs alongside Ronnie McNeir, Lawrence Payton Jr., and the band’s last original surviving member, Abdul “Duke” Fakir.
