Tag: Michelle Fiscus

Tennessee Settles Lawsuit from Former Health Official Who Reportedly Bought Dog Muzzle to Protest Firing

Tom Pappert

A legal settlement reached by the State of Tennessee and a former health official that requires both parties to cease discussing the terms of her firing became public on Thursday, likely signaling the end to a legal drama that began when former Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) official Michelle Fiscus was fired in 2021.

After Fiscus was terminated from her position directing the agency’s Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization program, she quickly gained national attention after claiming she was fired due to her advocacy for the mature minor doctrine, which accepts that minor children can make some health decisions without parental involvement.

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Federal Judge Denies Fired Tennessee Department of Health Official Michelle Fiscus’ Request for Monetary Damages

Chris Butler

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw this month said that Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) Commissioner Lisa Piercey and TDOH Chief Medical Officer Tim Jones have qualified immunity against claims from former TDOH official Michelle Fiscus. Qualified immunity protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff’s rights.

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Amazon.com Staff Say They Have Cleared Former Tennessee Health Official Michelle Fiscus of Wrongdoing

Chris Butler

Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) official Michelle Fiscus apparently did not purchase a dog muzzle through Amazon.com and send it to her state office so she could later frame someone else for the act. The Nashville-based WSMV reported this week that someone, whom the station did not identify, set up a fraudulent account in Fiscus’ name and then sent the muzzle to Fiscus’ office.

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Former Tennessee Health Official Michelle Fiscus Allegedly Bought Dog Muzzle She Says Someone Else Sent to Intimidate Her

Chris Butler

Former Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) official Michelle Fiscus said someone mailed her a dog muzzle to intimidate her to stop talking about COVID-19 vaccinations, but Axios reported Monday that she allegedly purchased that muzzle herself. “The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security found through a subpoena that the Amazon package containing the muzzle traced back to a credit card in Fiscus’ name,” Axios reported.

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Tennessee’s Fired Immunization Chief Claims ‘White, Male, Rural Conservatives’ Refuse Vaccine, Willing to Risk Others’ Lives Out of Spite for Left

Corinne Murdock

Tennessee’s former leading vaccine official, Michelle Fiscus, said that white, male, rural conservatives refuse the COVID-19 vaccine and are willing to risk the lives of others and themselves out of spite for the left. The former Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) Vaccine and Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program (VPDIP) Director made these statements during an interview with PBS.

“But I think the other thing in Tennessee, and I think in a lot of our Southern states that’s happening, is this ideology that if you get this vaccine, you’re somehow placating to the left part of the political spectrum,” said Fiscus. “And so what we’re actually seeing is our most hesitant population in Tennessee is the white, male, rural conservatives, and that they are stating that they’re not going to get the vaccine really out of spite and are willing to put their own lives and the lives of the people that they love at risk because they feel that if they get the vaccine, then they have placated the left or done what the Biden Administration wants them to do.”

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Tennessee’s Fired Immunization Chief Blasts Health Commissioner on COVID-Testing Contract

Bradley Vasoli

Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the recently fired director of the Tennessee Department of Health’s (TDH) Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program (VPDIP), blasted Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey this week for the latter’s handling of a $26.5 million COVID-testing contract.

“We knew that she was not being truthful with that committee,” Fiscus said to NewsChannel 5, referring to testimony Piercey gave before the state legislature last December.

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Tennessee Department of Health Reportedly Fired Chief Vaccination Official for Months of Inappropriate Behavior – Not for Sharing Mature Minor Doctrine

Corinne Murdock

Contrary to current claims, the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) reportedly fired its previous Vaccine-Preventable and Infectious Diseases State Medical Director Dr. Michelle Fiscus due to months of unprofessional behavior and poor job performance. TDH Chief Medical Officer Tim Jones detailed issues with Fiscus at length in a recommendation for termination email to TDH Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey. 

Although Fiscus claims that she was fired for informing the public about the mature minor doctrine, TDH offered a laundry list of the issues Fiscus has reportedly caused. According to their records, Fiscus consistently engaged in inappropriate behaviors such as mistreating her colleagues and ignoring superiors. Her behavior reportedly caused two senior leaders to resign. She’d also been pushing TDH over the last three months to award funds to her nonprofit organization – though it had no staff or other major funds.

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