DETROIT (WWJ) - The lead singer of Four Tops was just performing on stage at the Grammy's two months ago, but he claims a local hospital did not believe his identity during a medical emergency last month, instead restraining him in a straightjacket and telling him to sit his "Black ass down."
Alexander Morris announced his intention to file a lawsuit against Ascension Oakland-Macomb Hospital over the April 7 incident where he said he was racially profiled by doctors, nursing staff and security while seeking care for chest pains and difficulty breathing.
Morris said his wife called 911 when he began having symptoms, taking into consideration his history of heart disease. When he arrived at the hospital, Morris told medical staff he was the lead singer for Four Tops and expressed some security concerns for his safety.
According to Morris, staff instead believed he was experiencing a psychotic episode and "lying about his identity." The singer said medical professionals ordered him into a straight-jacket and took away his personal items. When Morris tried to speak up, he said a White male security guard told him to "sit his Black ass down" in front of doctors and nurses who did nothing.
The ordeal ended after Morris' wife arrived at the hospital and was able to verify his identity. The singer said only then was his straight-jacket removed and the hospital offered him a $25 Meijer gift card.
"The Four Tops are currently on tour with the Temptations; yet, a hospital can deny my identity, my basic human dignity, put me in a straight-jacket, take away my personal property, tell me to sit my "Black ass down;" and, refuse to let me leave the hospital so I can get treatment," Morris said in a prepared statement.
"I refuse to be treated with indignity and rebuke racial injustice on behalf of the younger generation," he continued.
Morris said he ended up being diagnosed with double- pneumonia, a heart condition that may require a heart transplant, and he suffered four seizures while hospitalized.
Attorneys Maurice Davis, Esquire with Davis Law Group and Jasmine Rand, Esquire with Rand Law, LLC, who are both well-known civil rights and personal injury attorneys, were retained by Morris and plan to file the lawsuit in the coming days.
Morris may use his voice to sing, but said he will also lend it to fight racial injustices not only for himself, but for all.
"Just like my predecessors in the music industry refused to be silent in the face of inequality, just like when Mahalia Jackson marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I'm going to use my voice to demand justice for myself and for the younger generation," Morris stated. "Just last week, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl knocked on the wrong door while he was trying to pick up his siblings and was shot in the head by an 84 year-old White man in Kansas. I was brought to the wrong ER suffering a heart condition and double-pneumonia and put into a straight-jacket and told to sit my 'Black ass down."
Morris' uncle, Bishop Charles Ellis, III, echoed Morris' statements. Ellis said he eulogized Rosa Parks and Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops, but credits "the grace of God" that he is not eulogizing his nephew in the "latest incidence of racial injustice."
"Driving while Black, jogging while Black, walking home while Back, now going to the hospital while Black?" Ellis stated. "Alexander Morris is my nephew, Detroit is my city, the Constitution protects my America. Racism will not stand against my nephew, in my city, and not in my America. I will stand beside him and his legal team to fight for justice."
Morris' attorneys said their client is calling for the termination of the doctor who ordered him into the straight-jacket as well as the firing for the White male security guard that told Morris to "sit his Black ass down."
"The hospital staff and security guard were quicker to assume Mr. Morris was psychotic than successful because he was a Black man," Davis and Rand said.
They're also demanding the administrative discipline of the nursing staff who saw and heard what was happening to Morris, yet "failed to intervene for his safety.”
Morris replaced the Four Tops' previous lead singer Harold “Spike” Bonhart in 2019. The Tops continue to preform with founding member Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Roquel Payton -- the son of original member Lawrence Payton -- and Ronnie McNeir.