Anna Sebastian Death: Father Denies Any Legal Action Against EY

Perayil, employed at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Yerawada, Pune, passed away on July 21. Her mother claims that Perayil's death resulted from a “backbreaking workload”

Sibi Joseph, the father of 26-year-old Pune-based Chartered Accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil, who allegedly passed away from "work-related stress," said on Thursday that the family does not intend to pursue any legal action against the consulting firm EY. 

According to her colleagues, her death was caused by cardiac arrest. Joseph mentioned that his daughter was very active and often played badminton and jogged with him when she was at home, reported IANS.

Perayil, employed at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Yerawada, Pune, passed away on July 21. Her mother claims that Perayil's death resulted from a “backbreaking workload” and intense “work stress.” In response, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje has promised that a thorough investigation will be carried out.

“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,” said Karandlaje in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The MoS made this statement in response to a post by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who called Anna's death "very sad but also disturbing on many levels." “I request Govt of India @mansukhmandviya @ShobhaBJP to investigate these allegations made by the mother of unsafe and exploitative work environment that claimed the life of a young, full of future Anna Sebastian Perayil,” Chandrasekhar wrote.

“She cleared her CA in February this year and in March joined the firm. We used to speak to her every day and her major grouse was the extreme work pressure. She was engaged in an audit of Bajaj Auto. Most of the days she used to work till 12.30 in the night and used to get back to her paying accommodation by 1.30 a.m,” Joseph said.

He added: “She was getting hardly any sleep and was unable to eat proper food also due to her work schedule. She used to complain about this often and it reached a point that we told her to quit the job. But she said she would continue to work as this was a reputed firm.”

Her father further said: “In July we visited her and we took her to a cardiologist and after the check, he said my daughter was perfectly healthy and all that she lacked was proper sleep and proper food. My wife wrote the letter to the chairman to ensure that even though our daughter is gone, such a thing should not happen to any other person. We are not going to take any legal steps against the company also.”

EY has denied that “work pressure” could have led to Anna’s death. “We have around one lakh employees. There is no doubt each one has to work hard. Anna worked with us only for four months. She was allotted work like any other employee. We don’t believe that work pressure could have claimed her life,” Rajiv Memani, EY India chairman.

“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. 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,” Memani added.