'This Is Completely Alien To Our Culture': EY India Chairperson On Missing Anna's Funeral

In a LinkedIn post on Thursday evening, Memani shared his profound sadness over Anna's passing and acknowledged the unimaginable grief experienced by her mother, Anita Augustine

Rajiv Memani, chairperson of EY India, expressed regret for missing Anna Sebastian Perayil's funeral, vowing that it "will never happen again." EY grabbed headlines after 26-year-old Anna, working at the firm's Pune office, died, and her mother wrote a letter to the chairperson claiming that her death was caused by extreme work pressure at the company.

Anna passed away in July in Pune, just four months after starting her role at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global.

"Anna would return 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," her mother wrote in her letter.

In a LinkedIn post on Thursday evening, Memani shared his profound sadness over Anna's passing and acknowledged the unimaginable grief experienced by her mother, Anita Augustine. 

Memani wrote, “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. I am deeply saddened and as a father, I can only imagine Ms 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,” he added.

“Over the past few days, I am aware that people have in their social media posts commented on some of our work practices. It has always been very important to us to create a healthy workplace and we attach the highest importance to the well-being of our people. 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,” he further wrote in his post.

However, his post was not received very well by internet users. Several internet users came forward and shared their anger on how the company is behaving towards the whole tragedy.

On Friday, Business Standard reported that the Union Labour Ministry has summoned EY India’s management to explain its position regarding Anna's death. Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, stated that a "thorough investigation" into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is currently underway.