“We don’t believe that work pressure could have claimed her life…” This is what Ernst and Young (EY) India’s Chairman Rajiv Memani had to say about his employee Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA) who lost her life on July 21 this year, allegedly due to excessive workload at the accounting firm.
As quoted by The Indian Express in its report, Memani said, “We have around one lakh employees. There is no doubt each one has to work hard. Anna worked with us only for four months. She was allotted work like any other employee. We don’t believe that work pressure could have claimed her life…”
This comes after a letter written by Anna's mother Anita Augustine to EY Chairman Rajiv Memani, which highlighted instances of exploitative and toxic work environment at the company, grabbed headlines.
Recently, EY India also issued a statement commiserating the death of the employee.
“We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian’s tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family,” Memani said in a statement.
“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,” the statement added.
