The lead singer in Motown group Four Tops has alleged a US hospital put him in a straitjacket because they did not believe he was a famous musician.

Alexander Morris, 53, has filed a lawsuit against the Michigan hospital where he sought treatment for difficulty breathing and chest pain in April 2023.

He claimed he was racially profiled by staff who did not believe him when he said he had security concerns in the emergency room around stalkers and fans because of his role in the long-running soul group.

Instead, they took him off oxygen and placed him in a restraining jacket, the lawsuit said, wrongfully assuming “he was mentally ill when he revealed his identity as a “celebrity”.

That was despite him informing medical staff of his history of cardiac disease, and his “clear symptoms of cardiac distress”.

Suffered three seizures 

Hospital staff reportedly offered the 53-year-old a $25 (£20) gift card as an apology, which he declined.

Mr Morris, a native of Detroit, was named the new lead singer of the Four Tops in late 2018.

The Motown group is known for classic hits such as 1966’s Reach Out I’ll Be There and has had a number of line-up changes in recent years.

The singer claims his attempt to show identification to verify his claim was ignored, as was his wife who tried to persuade a guard he was not delusional.

He was held in the restraining jacket for around 90 minutes while a psychological evaluation was ordered before staff realised their mistake, the lawsuit said.

Mr Morris was eventually diagnosed with a serious heart condition and pneumonia and suffered three seizures in the hospital.

‘Racial discrimination’

In addition to Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital, in a Detroit suburb, Mr Morris names a white security guard whom he claims told him to “sit his black ass down” and a nurse who “blatantly refused” him medical treatment in the lawsuit.

It also states that “none of the nursing staff intervened to stop the racial discrimination and mistreatment”.

Hospital staff were only convinced of Mr Morris’ identity when he showed them footage of him performing with Four Tops at the Grammy Awards.

Mr Morris announced last year he was planning to sue.

At that time, the hospital said the “health, safety and wellbeing of our patients… remains our top priority” and said it did not “condone racial discrimination of any kind”.

But it added it was “unable to provide details on cases under investigation”.

Mr Morris’ lawsuit, filed on Monday in a Michigan federal court, seeks more than $75,000 (£59,000) in damages, not including legal fees.