A former Des Moines Public Schools employee who was fired for allegedly having and sharing photos of a school principal’s passport and employment-authorization records is entitled to jobless benefits, a judge has ruled.
State records indicate Laura Shockley worked for the school district, most recently as an executive secretary, from Sept. 15, 2025, until May 21, 2026, when she was fired.
On July 17, 2026, Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Adkisson presided over a hearing on Shockley’s request for unemployment benefits. According to Adkisson’s recently published decision in the case, one of Shockley’s coworkers reported to the district on May 6, 2026, that Shockley had on her personal cellphone photographs of documents belonging to her supervisor, Lincoln High School Principal Praveen Bannikatti…