EY India's 'healthy workplace' assurance after employee's death due to 'workload'

Ernst & Young India reacted to the death of its 26-year-old employee due to "excessive workload" and said it would continue to find ways to provide a healthy workplace for its staff.

In Short

• EY employee dies due to 'excessive workload' in Pune in July
• Company says it is saddened by employee's death
• Offers assistance to employee's family, vows to improve workplace

Ernst & Young India on Wednesday released a statement condoling the death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant from Kerala, who was employed with the firm. The company said it was "deeply saddened" by the death and stressed it would continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace at its member firms across the country.

The development came after a heartbreaking letter, penned by 26-year-old Anna's mother Anita Augustine went viral. In the letter addressed to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, Augustine had blamed "excessive workload" and "four months of EY’s callous attitude" for her daughter's ill health.

Anna joined the global accounting giant in Pune in March. She died in July.

"Anna was a part of the Audit team at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on March 18, 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us," EY India said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family," it said.

"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," it added.

EY said it was 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 1,00,000 people across EY member firms in India," the company further said.

Anna's mother, Anita Augustine, wrote in a heartbreaking letter to EV, blaming "four months of EY’s callous attitude" for her death. "Nobody from EY even attended her funeral," she wrote in a gut-wrenching letter addressed to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani that has gone viral.

EY was Anna’s first job, and she was "thrilled" to join the company, her mother wrote. Describing her daughter as a "fighter", Augustine said that she topped all her examinations in school as well as college, and worked "tirelessly" at EY, "giving her all to meet the demands placed on her".

The letter sparked outrage over the young woman's ordeal and thrust into the spotlight the perils of hustle culture.