“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation is underway into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment. We are committed to ensuring justice and @LabourMinistry has officially accepted the complaint. @mansukhmandviya,” Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said on microblogging platform X.
We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation is underway into allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment. We are committed to ensuring justice and @MinistryOfLabor has officially made the complaint public.@mansukhmandviya https://t.co/1apsOm594d
—Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) September 19, 2024
She was responding to a post by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who said the news of the EY employee’s demise was very sad and disturbing on many levels.
She had asked the government to investigate allegations made by the mother about an “unsafe and exploitative work environment that claimed the life of a promising young woman, Anna Sebastian Perayil.”
The woman’s family has alleged that she was under “work pressure” and that the long working hours at EY, which she joined four months ago, cost her her life.
Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant working with SR Batliboi, an EY Global member firm, in Yerawada in Pune, died on July 20 while undergoing treatment at a city hospital. She was admitted because she felt uneasy and complained of exhaustion. Her colleagues said they were told she had died of a heart attack, according to reports.
The incident came to light after a letter written by her mother, Anita Augustine, to EY’s India director went viral on social media earlier this week. According to the letter shared on social media, Augustine claimed that her daughter was allegedly under extreme work pressure, which affected her health and eventually led to her death. She also highlighted the company’s “new environment” that could “prove detrimental to the health of other employees in the future.”
He also said that no one from EY attended his daughter’s funeral.
However, following the allegations, EY said in a statement: “We are taking the family’s correspondence with utmost seriousness and humility. We place utmost 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.”
The firm added that it was deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely passing of Anna Sebastian in July 2024.
“Anna was part of the audit team at SR Batliboi, an EY Global member firm, in Pune for a brief period of four months and joined the firm on March 18, 2024. The fact 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 suffered by the family, we have extended all assistance as we always do in times of distress and will continue to do so,” the firm said in the statement.
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