EY India Chairman denies work pressure as reason for employee's death: Report

The death of a 26-year-old Ernst & Young employee, Anna Sebastian Perayil, has sparked outrage after her mother's emotional letter went viral, raising concerns over work pressure within the company.

In Short

• Anna's mother's letter sparked social media outrage
• Rajiv Memani says work allotted to Anna like any other employee
• Condoles Anna's death, calls it 'irreparable loss' for EY

Ernst & Young India chairman Rajiv Memani on Thursday denied the claims of "work pressure" behind the death of a 26-year-old employee -- Anna Sebastian Perayil -- in July this year.

The incident came to light after Anna's mother wrote a gut-wrenching letter to the head of Ernst & Young India which went viral on social media and sparked a massive outrage.

Speaking about the issue, Memani said that Anna was allotted work like any other employee and also denied the possibility that work pressure could have claimed her life.

"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," The Indian Express quoted Rajiv Memani as saying.

Memani also condoled Anna's death and termed it an irreparable loss for Ernst & Young India and all of its employees.

"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. 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," he in a statement released on Wednesday.

Furthermore, Memani revealed that he has replied to the letter written to him by Anita Augustine (Anna's mother) and assured all support apart from more steps to improve the system.

"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," he said.

Anna's mother shared that EY was her daughter's first job, and Anna was 'thrilled' to join the company. She described Anna as a "fighter" who excelled in both school and college, topping all her exams. According to her, Anna worked tirelessly at EY, fully dedicating herself to meet the challenges of the job.