Four Tops singer claims he was given a $25 gift card after being racially profiled and put in a straitjacket during emergency room visit

Alexander Morris, lead singer of Motown Records’ The Four Tops, has filed a federal lawsuit against Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, Michigan. He claims that doctors wrongly placed him under restraint and ordered a psychological evaluation, alleging that his institutionalization was racially motivated.

Morris, 53, represented by attorneys Maurice Davis and Jasmine Rand, filed the complaint June 10 in the Eastern District of Michigan. The lawsuit names the hospital, nurse Holly Jackson and security guard Greg Ciesielski as defendants.

The complaint states that in April 2023, Morris, suffering from chest pain and difficulty breathing, requested additional security due to his fame. He alleges racial discrimination and false imprisonment after medical professionals called him “delusional.”

Despite offering his identification, Morris claims a white security guard told him to “sit your black ass down” and, when he refused, placed him in a straitjacket. The lawsuit claims that nursing staff failed to intervene to stop the racial discrimination and mistreatment, including removing Morris from oxygen for a psychiatric evaluation.

To prove he was not delusional, Morris, who joined the group in 2018, showed a nurse a video of himself performing at the Grammys, the complaint says. Subsequently, staff canceled the assessment, removed the restraints, and put him back on oxygen after approximately 90 minutes. The hospital then offered Morris a $25 gift card, which he declined.

In a statement through his lawyers, Morris called the experience “terrifying” and criticized the hospital for violating his civil rights but denying him his basic dignity.

“The hospital denied my identity and basic human dignity and then gave me a gift card,” Morris said in a statement, according to the New York Times.

He further condemned the hospital’s response, emphasizing that the security guard had not been fired, and expressed his intention to hold the hospital accountable and combat racism in health care .

“I see all these posts on social media like ‘driving while black’, ‘walking while black’, but I never imagined that I would be a victim of ‘being sick while black’,” Morris continued, according to Statnews.com.

“The hospital never fired the security guard who told me to seat my Black,” the statement added. “Obviously they tolerate racism. I filed a lawsuit to hold the hospital accountable for the way I was treated and to protect younger generations from racism in health care.

After the lawsuit was filed, social media chimed in asking, “How in today’s world do people not think to take 10 seconds to Google the 4 peaks?” »

” It’s incredible. I worked in the healthcare sector. WTF stopped the staff from checking the Four Tops wiki and matching the information with his ID card? (trick question. It was antiBlackness),” one X user tweeted.

Among you who were looking for THE most blatant example of racism this week (I realize it’s only Tuesday), here it is. Alexander Morris, a member of Motown’s Four Tops, was placed in a psychiatric ward instead of being treated for chest pains. He’s lucky he’s not dead. https://t.co/XIjOYGBz61

–Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) June 11, 2024

“Their job was to treat him FIRST. I’m sure he had ID and insurance,” someone lashed out. “They might validate his celebrity status later.”

Another wrote: “To do this you would have to be pretty confident in your knowledge of the Four Tops. Or racist.

“#AlexanderMorris of the #FourTops as he tries to receive treatment in the emergency room at #Ascension Macomb Hospital in Oakland. This place has been an abusive asshole for a VERY LONG time. Sue their MF pants, man. Best wishes, Mr. Morris! I am so sorry that I suffered from this horrible mistreatment,” another comment read.

Another added: “Looks like a hospital could soon be owned by a member of the Four Tops.” »

While many were outraged that no one took the time to research his celebrity, immediately suggesting he suffered from mental illness, others were outraged by the offer of consolation.

This is the biggest crotch kick in history pic.twitter.com/Fpii38E1LR

– JC (@jcorriv35) June 11, 2024

The hospital also released a statement: “We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion toward all people and the community. We do not tolerate any form of racial discrimination.

Ciesielski reportedly died five months after the incident from a ruptured aorta. The lawsuit does not mention his death.

The Four Tops continues to perform, maintaining a legacy despite changes in its lineup. Its only surviving original member, Abdul Fakir, 88, invited Morris to join the group in 2018 to replace Harold Bonhart, who replaced Theo Peoples, who replaced Levi Stubbs (the original lead singer).

Morris started with Fakir and two other newer members in 2019, a year before the world shut down due to COVID, and some argue that it’s plausible that he was too new a member for the average music fan to know that he was part of the group. band.