Four Tops Singer Sues Hospital After They Didn't Believe He Was in Legendary Group and Ordered Psych Evaluation

Alexander Morris sued the Michigan hospital, as well as two employees — one of whom appears to have died months after the 2023 incident

• The lead singer of the Four 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 undergo a psychiatric evaluation

Alexander Morris, lead singer of the Four Tops, is suing a Michigan hospital for racial discrimination, as he claims staffers dismissed him as “delusional” and denied him medical care after he told them he was a member of the legendary Motown group.

Morris, 53, filed a complaint against Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital in Warren on June 10 seeking more than $75,000 and a trial by jury following the April 2023 incident, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.

He alleges that he was restrained for an hour and a half and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, as hospital staffers “wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill when he revealed his identity as a celebrity figure.”

The hospital, a nurse and a security guard are listed as defendants, though the security guard appears to have died in September, according to an obituary. An attorney for Morris did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the defendant’s death.

"The health, safety and well-being of our patients, associates and community members remains our top priority,” an Ascension spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement. “We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community. We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind. We will not comment on pending litigation."

Morris, who has a history of cardiac disease, says in the complaint that he was rushed to the hospital’s emergency room after experiencing chest pains and difficulty breathing while on tour with his band.

Upon arrival, he told staffers he was a member of the Four Tops, and had “current security concerns due to stalkers and fans.” The complaint says that the employees did not believe him, and took him off oxygen and pursued a psych evaluation instead of the emergency medical treatment he needed.

Morris says his requests for oxygen were “ignored,” and he was put in a restraining jacket. When he asked to be removed from the restraints so that he could leave and get treatment at a different hospital, his request was denied, according to the complaint. He also alleges that the late security guard, who is white, told him to “sit his Black ass down” when he asked if he could show ID to prove his identity.

Eventually, Morris’ wife came to the hospital, and he told her that “the doctors thought he was delusional,” the complaint says. Though his wife confirmed his identity, staffers only believed him when he showed video of him performing at the Grammy Awards.

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The complaint says at that point, the psych evaluation was canceled and the restraint jacket removed.

Morris was then put back on oxygen and ultimately diagnosed with a heart infraction that may require a heart transplant and pneumonia. He also suffered three seizures that day, according to the complaint.

The singer says he was offered a $25 gift card to a local superstore “as an apology,” but he refused the gift.

“When our client presented to the hospital he was racially profiled. The hospital staff and security guard were quicker to assume Mr. Morris was psychotic than successful because he was a Black man,” his attorneys Maurice Davis and Jasmine Rand said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Even if he was mentally ill he was still in the middle of a clear medical emergency that necessitated swift medical intervention. The hospital had no excuse to deny him emergency medical treatment.”

Morris joined the Four Tops, known for ‘60s hits like “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Baby I Need Your Loving,” in 2019.

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