'As A Father...': EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani On Employee's Death Due To 'Overwork'

As outrage over the death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil continued to pour from across the nation, Ernst & Young's Chairman and Managing Partner Rajiv Memani has issued a statement, expressing grief and asserting that such an incident will never happen again.

Anna, who worked as a chartered accountant at EY India's Pune office in Maharashtra, had died in July this year. Her mother, Anita Augustine in a heartbreaking letter to Memani had said that her daughter died due to "excessive workload".

Addressing the tragedy, Memani wrote a post on LinkedIn and said, "Many of you will be aware of the tragic demise of Anna Sebastian, a young woman who worked in our Pune office, and the anguished letter her mother, Ms Anita Augustine wrote to me."

Expressing sadness over Anna's death, Rajiv said that "as a father", he can only imagine Augustine's grief. "I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives. I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna's funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before, it will never happen again," Memani wrote.

He further said that he is aware of the comments made on social media posts about EY's work practices and noted that creating a health workplace has been always been very important to the firm. "...We attach the highest importance to the well-being of our people," he said.

"I would like to affirm that the well-being of our people is my top-most priority and I will personally champion this objective. I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished," Memani said.

Augustine had -- in her letter -- described Anna as a "fighter" who topped all her examinations in school and college, worked "tirelessly" at EY, "giving her all to meet the demands placed on her".

He further said how Anna's "relentless" managers would reschedule meetings during cricket matches, assign her work, add to her stress, and gave her "dismissive" responses. Augustine said her daughter was told: "You can work at night. That's what we all do."

Ernst & Young India had earlier issued an official statement in response to Augustine's letter and said that it was deeply saddened by Anna's death, adding that it was taking the family's correspondence with "utmost seriousness and humility".

Centre's Action On Anna's Death

The Union Labour Ministry on Thursday said they would be investigating the circumstances that led to the death of Anna.

Minister of State for Labour Shobha Karandlaje took cognisance of the matter and took to X, saying, "Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway. We are committed to ensuring justice and @LabourMinistry has officially taken up the complaint. @mansukhmandviya."