Ernst & Young (EY), one of the Big Four accounting firms, has released a statement following the tragic death of their 26-year-old Pune employee. Anna Sebastian Perayil, who succumbed to work-related stress as claimed by her mother in an email to EY India boss Rajiv Memani, was a Chartered Accountant (CA) from Kerala. The accounting firm said that Anna Sebastian Perayil was part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi. The company expressed deep sorrow over the “irreparable loss” of the young employee and emphasised that they “assisted the family during this tragic time”.
Read| 26-year-old EY Pune Employee Succumbs to ‘Work Stress’ Four Months After Joining, Mother Writes to Firm’s India Boss
“While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so. We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian’s tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family,” the company said in a statement.
The company expressed that the passing of their young employee is an “irreparable loss for all”: “Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us.”
The company, which is headquarted in London, United Kingdom, further hinted at changes “to improve and provide a healthy workplace” for its employees: “We are taking the family’s correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India.”
Mother Writes To EY India Boss Rajiv Memani
After the tragic loss of her daughter, Anita Augustine wrote an email to Rajiv Memani, the head of EY India. In her letter, she criticised the firm for “glorifying overwork” and pointed out how the company’s human rights values starkly contradicted the reality her daughter faced.
Her mother claimed that since many “employees resigned due to the excessive workload,” her daughter’s boss told her to “stick around and change everyone’s opinion about the team”. She also stated that her daughter worked “late into the night and even on weekends”.
“Her assistant manager once called her at night with a task that needed to be completed by the next morning, leaving her with barely any time to rest or recover. When she voiced her concerns, she was met with the dismissive response: ‘You can work at night; that’s what we all do’,” Augustine recounted in the email.
The grieving mother said that her daughter’s death should serve as a “wake-up call” for the company: “It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organisation and take meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellness of your employees.”
While the exact cause of her death is not clear, Perayil had been complaining of “chest constriction” weeks before her death. “We took her to the hospital in Pune. Her ECG was normal, and the cardiologist came to allay our fears, telling us she wasn’t getting enough sleep and was eating very late. He prescribed antacids, which reassured us that it wasn’t anything serious,” Augustine added. The woman died on July 20.
Anna Sebastian Perayil’s LinkedIn account has been memorialised as tribute to her professional legacy. Before joining EY as an executive, she spent over two years at G Joseph & Associates from January 2020 to December 2022, working as an audit assistant. A graduate of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Perayil had more than three years of experience in taxation, statutory audits, and internal audits. Additionally, she was a national-level debater. Her last LinkedIn post was her job update at EY. “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Audit and Assurance Executive at EY!”
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