A member of the Four Tops is suing a Michigan hospital and two staff members, claiming they wrongly treated him as mentally ill upon identifying himself as a singer with the celebrated Motown Records quartet.
Per The Washington Post, Alexander Morris (pictured centre, above) filed a lawsuit alleging that workers at southeast Michigan's Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital assumed he was delusional after identifying himself as a member of the Four Tops upon arriving at the hospital via ambulance with "clear symptoms of cardiac distress" in April of last year.
"When he presented to the emergency room [Morris] informed a nurse and a security guard that he was a member of the famous Motown group the 'Four Tops,' and that he had current security concerns due to stalkers and fans," the lawsuit reads [via The Washington Post].
Founded in 1953, the Four Tops were instrumental in bringing the Motown label to international recognition. The group continues to tour with Abdul "Duke" Fakir as the last surviving original member. Morris, 53, has been performing with the Four Tops since 2019.
Morris's suit claims that after identifying himself as a vocalist with the Four Tops, hospital employees "wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill" and "made the decision to remove him from oxygen and pursue a psychiatric evaluation instead."
Upon trying to resolve the situation by providing identification, the lawsuit alleges, a white security guard told Morris to "sit his Black ass down." He was then reportedly placed in a straitjacket under security supervision, who denied his request to seek treatment elsewhere.
Morris "instead ... received deliberate misdiagnosis and received a lower standard of medical care based on his race that amounted to racial discrimination and delayed his actual diagnosis," per the suit. It is alleged that after 90 minutes, Morris was released from restraints and showed a nurse a video of himself performing at the Grammys to prove he was who he claimed to be.
The lawsuit says Morris was ultimately diagnosed with a heart issue requiring a potential transplant and pneumonia, and that he suffered three seizures during the hospital stay. It's also alleged that the hospital offered Morris a $25 gift card for a supermarket following the ordeal, which he declined.
Per The Post, Morris is suing for at least $75,000 in damages, claiming he was misdiagnosed and mistreated because of his race by the hospital, a nurse and a security guard.