Govt Investigates Death of 26-year-old EY Pune Employee After Mother Alleged 'Work Stress'

Centre has launched an investigation into the “unsafe and exploitative” work environment at one of the Big Four accounting firms Ernst & Young (EY). This comes after a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA) from Kerala, Anna Sebastian Perayil, succumbed to work stress as her mother claimed in an email to EY India boss Rajiv Memani. Perayil, who was working at EY Pune, died just four months after joining the company.

Read| 26-year-old EY Pune Employee Succumbs to ‘Work Stress’ Four Months After Joining, Mother Writes to Firm’s India Boss

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has officially taken up the complaint and a “thorough investigation” is underway. Minister of State for Labour, Shobha Karandlaje, expressed her deep sadness over the tragic loss, adding, “A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway. We are committed to ensuring justice and Ministry of Labour and Employment has officially taken up the complaint.”

Karandlaje shared this while responding to a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The former BJP Minister said that Perayil’s death is not only “very sad but also disturbing at many levels”. He further requested the Centre to launch an investigation into the allegations made by the mother.

Mother’s letter to EY India head

In her letter to EY India boss Rajiv Memani, Perayil’s mother Anita Augustine condemned the firm for “glorifying overwork” and highlighted that her daughter worked “late into the night and even on weekends”. Augustine further highlighted the stark difference between the company’s human rights values and what her daughter went through.

She “worked tirelessly to meet the expectations” of her new boss who told her to “stick around and change everyone’s opinion about the team” after many “employees resigned due to the excessive workload”.

Augustine recounted an incident where her daughter’s boss assigned her a task at night with a deadline next morning. She added, “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’.”

The grieving mother said that her daughter’s death should serve as a “wake-up call” for the company and that they should take “meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellness of employees”.

While the exact cause of her death is not clear, Perayil had been complaining of “chest constriction”. “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.” The 26-year-old woman died on July 20.

EY India issues statement

“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.”