B.C. teaching assistant fired over OnlyFans account

A teacher’s assistant in the Coquitlam School District has been fired from her job over racy online posts, including on the platform OnlyFans.

Kristin MacDonald, who goes by “Ava James” online, had been working at Terry Fox Secondary School in Port Coquitlam since 2015. In April of this year, she was told to take down her account, or risk termination.

The educator kept the account active and says she was notified via email in June that she had been fired.

“I was in Mexico with my daughter. So I had the time to think about the next steps that I wanted to take and kind of mourn the loss of my past career,” she told CityNews.

MacDonald feels an Instagram post she recently made showing her wearing a schoolgirl’s outfit was the post the district cited in her termination. Now, she says she is working with her union to file a grievance with the district.

“We have come a long way in our society in the way we view sex and I think this is just one more step in kind of moving forward in more of a progressive society,” she said.

“You can have your opinion but I don’t think that I should lose my job for it. From a moral standpoint, people disagree. From a labour relations standpoint, I’m not doing anything wrong.”

She also feels this whole situation opens up a conversation about a double standard.

“One of the things I said to my employer is, ‘If I’m going to be fired for having a content creator account, are my male colleagues going to be disciplined for having a subscriber account?’ And they said, ‘Well, no. Don’t you think it’s different to watch the video versus make the video?’ I understand it but at the same time we wouldn’t be making the content if there wasn’t a market for it,” she explained.

MacDonald started OnlyFans to supplement salary

The 35-year-old content creator, who is also a single mother, says she started her OnlyFans account last year to supplement her income as an education assistant.

MacDonald says she was making about $1,000 every two weeks working 10 months of the year as a TA.

“We make such a little income. It’s certainly unlivable and anybody who does what I do, they do it because they love the kids and they love what they do. It’s certainly not for the money. That being said, you have to survive and you have to feel like you’re progressing in life,” she explained.

After months of back and forth between her and the district over her online activities, MacDonald says she felt a narrative took form and calls the whole situation “sad” and “disappointing.”

“I felt like I was being discriminated against based on my appearance, and the photos they had come across on Instagram,” she said. “I had a fitness background prior to doing what I’m doing now. It’s just a body. Just the amount of shame that was put on me.”

School District 43 did not address the situation when CityNews reached out for comment, providing the following statement:

“The District recognizes and values the central role its employees play in achieving the District’s purpose of providing quality public education in a safe, inclusive, and socially responsible environment for the benefit of the learners it serves and the broader community. Consistent with that, the District strives to ensure all employees are treated equitably and issues are investigated and addressed thoroughly and fairly in accordance with the District’s policies, procedures and legal obligations.”

MacDonald’s union, CUPE, also declined to comment.

“CUPE 561 will not be commenting as this is an ongoing labour relations matter, and throughout this process, confidentiality is of the utmost importance.”

As for MacDonald, she hopes to work in education again someday. In the near future, she says she’s slated for another back surgery and once recovered, she’ll focus on her online career.

“It’s sad and disappointing. I put eight years into working for that district, and it’s extremely disappointing,” she said.