- The lead singer of the 4 Tops is suing Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital
- Alexander Morris, who joined the legendary Motown group in 2019, claims staffers dismissed him as “delusional” and denied him medical care
- He alleges that he was restrained for an hour and a half and ordered to bear a psychiatric analysis
Alexander Morris, lead singer of the 4 Tops, is suing a Michigan hospital for racial discrimination, as he claims staffers dismissed him as “delusional” and denied him medical care after he advised them he was a member of the legendary Motown group.
Morris, 53, filed a grievance towards Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital in Warren on June 10 in search of greater than $75,000 and a trial by jury following the April 2023 incident, based on paperwork obtained by PEOPLE.
He alleges that he was restrained for an hour and a half and ordered to bear a psychiatric analysis, as hospital staffers “wrongfully assumed he was mentally sick when he revealed his id as a star determine.”
The hospital, a nurse and a safety guard are listed as defendants, although the safety guard seems to have died in September, based on an obituary. An legal professional for Morris didn’t instantly reply to PEOPLE’s request for touch upon the defendant’s demise.
“The well being, security and well-being of our sufferers, associates and neighborhood members stays our high precedence,” an Ascension spokesperson advised PEOPLE in an announcement. “We stay dedicated to honoring human dignity and performing with integrity and compassion for all individuals and the neighborhood. We don’t condone racial discrimination of any type. We is not going to touch upon pending litigation.”
Morris, who has a historical past of cardiac illness, says within the grievance that he was rushed to the hospital’s emergency room after experiencing chest pains and issue respiration whereas on tour along with his band.
Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Upon arrival, he advised staffers he was a member of the 4 Tops, and had “present safety issues attributable to stalkers and followers.” The grievance says that the workers didn’t imagine him, and took him off oxygen and pursued a psych analysis as a substitute of the emergency medical remedy he wanted.
Morris says his requests for oxygen have been “ignored,” and he was put in a restraining jacket. When he requested to be faraway from the restraints in order that he may depart and get remedy at a distinct hospital, his request was denied, based on the grievance. He additionally alleges that the late safety guard, who’s white, advised him to “sit his Black ass down” when he requested if he may present ID to show his id.
Ultimately, Morris’ spouse got here to the hospital, and he advised her that “the medical doctors thought he was delusional,” the grievance says. Although his spouse confirmed his id, staffers solely believed him when he confirmed video of him performing on the Grammy Awards.
The grievance says at that time, the psych analysis was canceled and the restraint jacket eliminated.
Morris was then put again on oxygen and in the end recognized with a coronary heart infraction that will require a coronary heart transplant and pneumonia. He additionally suffered three seizures that day, based on the grievance.
The singer says he was supplied a $25 present card to an area superstore “as an apology,” however he refused the present.
“When our consumer offered to the hospital he was racially profiled. The hospital employees and safety guard have been faster to imagine Mr. Morris was psychotic than profitable as a result of he was a Black man,” his attorneys Maurice Davis and Jasmine Rand mentioned in an announcement to PEOPLE. “Even when he was mentally sick he was nonetheless in the midst of a transparent medical emergency that necessitated swift medical intervention. The hospital had no excuse to disclaim him emergency medical remedy.”
Morris joined the 4 Tops, recognized for ‘60s hits like “I Can’t Assist Myself” and “Child I Want Your Loving,” in 2019.
