Various outlets in India have reported today that the mother of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant who tragically passed away on July 20, has sent a scathing email to EY India Chairman and Regional Managing Partner Rajiv Memani accusing the firm of callous indifference in the death of their young employee. The mom, Anita Augustine, said that her daughter, who “excelled in everything she did,” was too young to set boundaries and thus experienced an “overwhelming workload” that she implies led to health problems and ultimately her premature death.
She writes:
Anna would retum to her room utterly exhausted, sometimes collapsing on the bed without even changing her clothes, only to be bombarded with messages asking for more reports. She was putting in her best efforts, working very hard to meet the deadlines. She was a fighter to the core, not someone to give up easily. We told her to quit, but she wanted to learn and gain new exposure. However, the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her.
Everything was new to her-the organization, the place, the language and she was trying very hard to adjust. You should show some consideration to new employees, Instead, the management Took full advantage of the fact that she was new and overwhelmed her with both assigned and unassigned work This is a systemic issue that goes beyond individual managers or teams. The relentless demands and the pressure to meet unrealistic expectations are not sustainable, and they cost us the life of a young woman with so much potential
She goes on to call EY out for being a “company that speaks of values and human rights” but that didn’t even send anyone from the firm to the funeral of a recent starter:
Anna’s death should serve as a wake-up call for EY. It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organization and take meaningful steps to prioritize the health and wellness of your employees. This means creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up, where they are supported in managing their workload, and where their mental and physical well-being is not sacrificed for the sake of productivity.
No one from EY attended Anna’s funeral. This absence at such a critical moment, for an employee who gave her all to your organization until her last breath, is deeply hurtful. Anna deserved better, and so do all the employees who continue to work under these conditions. My heart aches not just for the loss of my child but also for the lack of empathy shown by those who were supposed to guide and support her. After her funeral, I reached out to her managers, but received no reply. How can a company that speaks of values and human rights fail to show up for one of its own in their final moments? Becoming a Chartered Accountant involves years of toil, hardship, and sacrifice-not only for the student but also for the parents. Years of my child’s hand work have been snuffled out by just four months of EY’s callous attitude.
The heartbreaking letter ends with:
I hope my child’s experience leads to real change so that no other family has to endure the grief and trauma we are going through. My Anna is no longer with us, but her story can still make a difference
Full letter below as shared by kaay_rao on Twitter.
Update: EY made a statement. “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,” they said, unconvincingly.
This young woman’s death is obviously tragic, but I think its a bit over the top to blame EY for it. A healthy 26-year old does not die from working too much. If anything, the parents should be upset at the quack doctor who examined their daughter, prescribed her with antacids, and “reassured us that it wasn’t anything serious”. There was clearly a medical condition here that the doctor missed.
That said, note to the kids: If you are smart, willing to work hard, and good at what you do, then you don’t need to put up with all the bullshit that this young woman was allegedly subjected to at EY. Other companies would love to have you.
I assume you are a Big4 veteran because you got fired for being a bit of a tool …
Nah, I just worked at the Big 4 during a time when all the staff weren’t a bunch of lazy babies who constantly need to be told how special they are. During a time when if you didn’t want to work at the Big 4, you just went out and got yourself a new job rather than constantly whining and bitching about how the firm is so unfair and mean.
He just worked their back when all they did was flip a few 8 1/2 X 11 pages all day and called it 8 billable hours.
People nowadays are multiples more productive than they were in previous generations. eat rocks
Try not sleeping for 3 days on trot.
Why would I do that? I have the balls to set limits for myself and tell my supervisor to fuck off. I’m not a slave. It’s at will employment. Says it right there in your employment contract/offer letter.
I think it is important to consider Indian culture is different than American’s. At will or not, to quitting is not always an option. Meaning if you leave it’s career damaging and much harder to climb back up. While tragedy should not have occurred for a job, the pressures in society makes it hard for a young mind to over come this…
Note, I’ve worked at a company with many Indians and whites and white can get away with so much more…there’s definitely an assumption that the kid on the team just just do it.
I think your experience was different and the times have changed(gotten significantly worse since the pandemic shifted the work culture).
We all appreciate your insight, but the last couple of years have been absolutely brutal for everyone in the Big4.
We can sit here and argue that she was worked to death or her preexisting health conditions were the cause of her death…but the truth is in the middle where any heath issues she had were pushed past any safe limit in a work culture where saying “no” or “pushing back” results in a PIP and a year of unemployment because no one wants “bruised fruit”.
Everyone in public accounting thinks they have it the worst. But I can assure you, the staff at the large firms were working exponentially harder 20 years ago (and even 10 years ago) than the coddled babies are working now.
If you spend 4 of your 7 hours at the office every day complaining about how hard you’re being worked, you are not actually working the 12 hours you claim to be working.
Very tragic but kids you need to set boundaries for yourself & prioritise ur health, family above careers & ambitions! Finally everyone should learn to say “no” to bullshit around them!!
Clearly she chose a horrible company who showed such apathy even in her funeral!!
Exactly. Personal responsibility. One of the first lessons that EVERY workers should learn early in their career: Always look out for #1.
My son is going through the same pressure. Less employee and a lot of pressure