‘Four Tops’ singer sues hospital over restraints and alleged racial discrimination

Alexander Morris sues Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital for racial discrimination.

Alexander Morris, a singer with the Motown group the ‘Four Tops,’ has filed a lawsuit against Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Michigan, alleging racial discrimination and negligence. 

Lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The lawsuit claims that hospital staff restrained Morris and ordered a psychological evaluation because they did not believe he was a member of the famous band.

Morris, 53, who joined the ‘Four Tops’ in 2018, was taken to the hospital in April 2023 with chest pain and difficulty breathing. According to the lawsuit, when he informed hospital staff of his band membership, they assumed he was mentally ill. A security guard allegedly told Morris to “sit his black ass down” and placed him in restraints, with no intervention from the nursing staff.

To prove his identity, Morris showed a nurse a video of him performing at the Grammys charity event. The psychiatric evaluation was then canceled, the restraints removed, and Morris was placed back on oxygen after about 90 minutes.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, also accuses the staff of removing Morris from oxygen while pursuing the psychiatric evaluation, despite his history of heart problems. 

After the incident, statements provided by Morris's lawyers say that Morris was offered a $25 gift card, which he refused, stating, “The hospital denied my identity and my basic human dignity and then offered me a gift card.”

Ascension, the nonprofit health system overseeing the hospital, declined to comment on the pending litigation but stated, “We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind.”

Morris joined the ‘Four Tops’ in 2018 and has been performing with the group since 2019. At the time of his hospital visit, the Four Tops were touring with the Temptations and had recently performed at the Grammys charity event.