One of the Big Four accounting firms, Ernst & Young (EY), issued a statement after learning of the untimely death of a 26-year-old employee in Pune. Kerala-born Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant (CA), passed away from stress at work, according to her mother’s email to Rajiv Memani, the head of EY India. According to the accounting company, S R Batliboi’s audit team included Anna Sebastian Perayil. The young employee’s “irreparable loss” was deeply felt by the organisation, which also highlighted that they “assisted the family during this tragic time.”
“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.”
Following her daughter’s untimely death, Anita Augustine corresponded via email with Rajiv Memani, the CEO of EY India. She denounced the corporation in her letter for “glorifying overwork” and emphasised how the business’s human rights principles were in direct opposition to the circumstances her daughter had to deal with.
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.
As an homage to Anna Sebastian Perayil’s professional legacy, her LinkedIn account has been memorialised. She worked as an audit assistant for more than two years, from January 2020 to December 2022, at G Joseph & Associates, prior to joining EY as an executive. Perayil, who graduated from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), possessed over three years of expertise in the fields of internal, statutory, and tax auditing. She was also 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!”
