AN award-winning volunteer who dedicated 60 years of service to the National MS Society has been fired for asking why employees put pronouns at the end of their emails.
Patients are hurting due to the firing of 90-year-old Fran Itkoff, according to her family, but the society stands by its decision.
In mid-January, Itkoff received an email that she could no longer volunteer at the National MS Society because she violated its policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The firing came as a huge shock to Itkoff, who has spent nearly her entire adult life providing for people suffering from the immune system disease MS, which stands for multiple sclerosis.
Her husband was diagnosed with MS when they were young, and they went on to dedicate decades to caring for those affected and funding research for a cure.
Itkoff was awarded the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement award in 2008, and her husband was deemed the National MS Father of the Year by Jimmy Carter when he was in the White House.
But Itkoff’s laurels apparently didn’t matter after she had a disagreement with one of the society’s employees.
In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Itkoff said that she was planning an upcoming event with a society worker when she asked why she signed her emails with pronouns.
“I had no idea what that meant,” Itkoff told The U.S. Sun.
The employee responded by saying that the pronouns were used so the society could be more inclusive, and Itkoff questioned why that was necessary.
The seasoned volunteer felt the charity “has been inclusive all these years” and would “help anyone that needs to know information,” she told The U.S. Sun.
The employee then said she felt that Itkoff needed to join a DEI group because of her comments, but the elderly woman disagreed.
“I don’t think we need it,” she remembers saying.
“Our group is inclusive and it always has been for 60 years.”
On January 19 at 4:58 pm, Itkoff received the email that forced her to step down from the volunteer position, which her daughter Elle Hamilton thought was “strange” timing.
The family never heard from the society again, until their story was made public by an interview with social media influencer Libs of TikTok.
Since that video went up, the National MS Society president of nearly 12 years, Cyndi Zagieboylo, has quit in a move that Hamilton felt was surprising.
However, the charity’s Associate Vice President Gena Hyde told The U.S. Sun her decision had nothing to do with Itkoff’s firing.
“Cyndi Zagieboylo’s decision to retire was not sudden and not in any way connected to this,” Hyde said.
The nonprofit also released a statement after the elderly woman’s firing picked up in the media, and shockingly stood by its decision.
A statement released by the charity stated that Itkoff made statements that don’t align “with our policy of inclusion.”
“We believe that our staff acted with the best of intentions and did their best to navigate a challenging issue,” the statement reads.
In the wake of the firing, Itkoff’s daughter Hamilton is shocked they would rather send an email than use the conversation as a learning experience.
“It would have been a good opportunity for discussion as opposed to just telling her ‘This is what it is,'” Hamilton said.
They also slammed the society for deleting Itkoff’s independently-run support group in Long Beach, which is 30 minutes north of Los Angeles, from its website as a resource.
Hamilton said patients would come to Itkoff for help if they weren’t healthy enough to travel all the way to Los Angeles for support.
“They’re hurting the patients that want to find support because they’ve removed the group from the website,” the daughter said.
“So it’s a sad day. That was the wrong thing for them to do.”
Despite the surprising blow, Itkoff plans to continue running her MS group north of Los Angeles.
MS is a disease that affects the nervous system and those suffering from it can lose their senses, experience mood changes, develop memory problems, and endure chronic pain.
Instead of making headlines for firing a 90-year-old, Hamilton and her mother wish the society was famous for finding a cure.
“The focus for 60 years for my mom and dad is to help MS patients,” Hamilton said.
“And that’s what she’ll continue to do, even if the MS Society’s focus is not that anymore.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the society for additional comment.
