A B.C. woman who worked as a teaching assistant in the Coquitlam School District has been fired for having an OnlyFans account.
Kristin MacDonald previously started an OnlyFans account under a different name, Ava James.
She told Global News that as a single mother, the income from the account, which is subscriber-based, supplements her income as a teaching assistant, which she said is not enough to support her and her child.
MacDonald received a cease and desist order from the Coquitlam School District in May, saying her posts violated the collective agreement she signed.
She confirmed Tuesday that she received the final report and she has been terminated from her position.
“There was still a part of me that was hopeful that possibly, you know, they would have a, I guess, a change of heart,” she said. “But I certainly felt like the narrative from the beginning of the investigation was that I would be terminated.”
Global News obtained a copy of the school district’s termination letter, in which an assistant superintendent said MacDonald’s “misconduct in this matter is egregious.”
He listed six reasons for her dismissal, including the alleged posting of material on public social media accounts that “involves the sexualization of the school environment.”
The letter also states that MacDonald was asked to maintain confidentiality and not discuss the matter with anyone other than her union representative and she chose not to do that by speaking with the media.
“As an employee of the District, you are required to comply with the District’s policies and procedures,” the letter states. “These policies and procedures were readily available to you throughout your employment, were brought to your attention at the commencement of your employment, and you were regularly reminded of your need to comply with the District’s policies and procedures through communications from the District during your employment.
“Employees must remember they are role models within the community and must not engage in offduty activities, including online and social media activity, which place them in a conflict of interest whether actual or perceived or which may negatively affect the District’s operations, reputation or work environment.”
MacDonald said she is not sorry she reached out to the media to tell her story.
She said the union was very supportive and several co-workers reached out to express their support as well. She added that they have filed a grievance about the ruling through the union.
MacDonald explained that OnlyFans is a consent-based platform and everyone has to have their identity verified to use it. She said a user also has to have a verified credit card and she never used her real name in her profile.
She said she knew that speaking out about her case was breaking confidentiality but she wanted to see the stigma around sex work be broken down and said her case could be an opportunity moving forward.
“People gotta live, they got to make money,” she said. “So I would say to the school district, you know, you don’t want me doing OnlyFans, then pay me a livable wage.”
MacDonald said she does make decent money on OnlyFans now, but it varies.
“That being said, I truly loved my job and it filled my emotional bucket, so to speak. So I will certainly be missing it nonetheless,” she added.
The letter also said that “Putting to one side material posted on the OnlyFans account you operate, posting on publicly accessible platforms content that involves the sexualization of the school environment via ‘sexy school girl’ imagery and innuendo to ‘meet at the playground’ for sexual activities, in and of itself negatively affects the District’s operations, reputation and work environment.”
MacDonald said Tuesday that in her opinion, the correlation was absurd.
“I am an education assistant that has been terminated for putting on a schoolgirl outfit. Seems absurd to me,” she said.