PRAIRIE CITY, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – An Iowan who lost his teaching license 10 years ago over allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student is now facing a two-year suspension of his nursing license.
In June 2025, the Iowa Board of Nursing filed disciplinary charges against licensed practical nurse Michael David Suplee, 36, of Prairie City, accusing him of engaging in “repeated verbal or physical conduct which interferes with another health care worker’s performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.” The board also charged Suplee with engaging in behavior that is contradictory to professional decorum.
According to the board, at some undisclosed time in the past Suplee was working as a nurse at VIA Carlisle — a nursing home now known as Accura Healthcare of Iowa — when he “acted inappropriately toward colleagues in a manner that warrants discipline.”
The board has publicly disclosed no other information about the nature of the alleged conduct.
In order to resolve the disciplinary case, Suplee and the board recently agreed to a settlement that calls for his nursing license to be suspended for a minimum of two full years, then placed on probation for an additional four years.
The agreement stipulates that before Suplee’s license can be reinstated, he must complete 20 hours of educational training on professional boundaries, plus 10 hours of educational training on professional ethics.
Suplee will also be required to undergo a mental health evaluation by a board-certified psychologist and participate in counseling or therapy to address any issues with maintaining professional boundaries. The agreement also indicates Suplee may have to submit to substance abuse valuation if that’s recommended by his case manager.
Nursing license issued after teaching license is suspended
State records show the Board of Nursing issued a Suplee a license to practice nursing in Iowa in October 2023 — seven years after the state suspended his student-teaching license due to allegations of misconduct involving a 14-year-old former student.
Iowa Board of Educational Examiners records show that Suplee worked for the Carlisle School District as a special-education student teacher from March 2015 through May 1, 2015. On May 21, 2015, the board fielded a complaint alleging that on May 6, 2015, Suplee violated the standards of professional ethics and practices when he was involved in inappropriate text messaging with a former student.
According to the board, Suplee had contacted a 14-year-old, female, special-education student via Snapchat, arranged to pick the girl up at swimming pool in Carlisle and then took her to his house in Norwalk where he allegedly attempted to persuade her to have a drink made with alcohol.
Suplee was criminally charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and with providing alcohol to persons under legal age. According to the board, court records that are now sealed from public view show that on July 17, 2015, Suplee entered a guilty plea to the charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was granted a deferred judgment that would result in the conviction being expunged from the public record after the successful completion of one year’s probation.
As part of a plea agreement, the charge of supplying alcohol to a person under the age of 21 was dismissed, according to the board.
At a board hearing, Suplee claimed he met with the girl only after she sought his “counsel and advice” due to some family issues she was experiencing, and he denied having any romantic feelings toward the girl, according to Board of Educational Examiners records.
In suspending Suplee’s student-teaching license, the board stated, “This was not a close case,” noting that in his Snapchat messages to the girl, Suplee had “repeatedly called (her) ‘beautiful.’ Moreover, the wording and tone of his messages are completely inconsistent with his self-serving claim that he was only trying to provide support for (the girl) concerning her family issues.”
The board added: “No reasonable educator could believe that it was appropriate or within professional bounds for the educator to persuade a 14-year-old special education student to sneak out of her parent’s home at 11:30 at night; meet the educator at a public pool; allow the educator to drive the student to the educator’s home in another town; and spend time alone with the educator in his home.”
Suplee did not respond to calls and emails Tuesday from the Iowa Capital Dispatch. His attorney, Jefferson Fink, declined to comment on the Board of Nursing case and noted that the teaching-license issues predated his representation of Suplee.
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