(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A teaching assistant who was fired from an Iowa school district for allegedly showing a colleague photos on an OnlyFans site is not entitled to jobless benefits, a judge has ruled. According to state records, full-time paraeducator Patricia Pike was fired by the Lewis Central Community School District in Pottawattamie County last fall after being accused of violating school policy on phone use and behavior that might affect the relationship between employees and students.
The district alleged that on Oct. 6, 2025, after students had been dismissed but prior to the end of the workday, Pike was using her personal cellphone inside a Lewis Central Middle School classroom. While using her phone, she allegedly pulled up nude photos of men on the subscription-based social media platform OnlyFans, which is commonly used to share adult content.
Pike allegedly showed some of the photos on the OnlyFans site to at least one of her coworkers. Another coworker reported the incident to the principal, Mandie Reynolds, who later met with Pike.
According to the district, when the two spoke, Pike admitted showing a coworker nude photos on her phone, adding, “I guess you just don’t know who you can trust,” and, “I could tell on others, but I am not going to do that.” She was fired by the district that same day, with the district citing a policy that prohibits the personal use of cellphones during the workday even after students are dismissed for the day.
The district subsequently challenged Pike’s application for unemployment benefits, which led to a recent hearing before Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Johnson. After hearing evidence in the case, Johnson ruled Pike committed job-related misconduct that disqualified her from collecting unemployment benefits. Johnson noted that while Pike alleged others had engaged in similar conduct at the school, the district “cannot be expected to discipline employees for misconduct if it does not know about the misconduct,” and there was no indication the other incidents were reported to administrators.
“The employer presented credible testimony that (Pike) showed at least one coworker nude photos on her cellphone while at work,” Johnson stated in her ruling. “This was wholly inappropriate for the workplace, regardless of the presence of children. (She) was aware this was not an acceptable activity to be engaging in at work, and she acknowledged having received a prior warning for inappropriately using her cellphone for personal reasons while at work.”
Lewis Central School Board records indicate Pike’s departure from the district was reported to the public as a “resignation.”
