Anna Sebastian Death: Former EY Employee Shares How Company Uses Ethics Hotline To 'Silence' Individuals

Many individuals have responded to the now viral post by Rajiv Memani, chairperson of EY India, on LinkedIn and shared their own horror stories associated with the organisation

A former employee said that the ethics hotline maintained by the firm specifically to address issues such as harassment, mental health abuses, discrimination, etc, is rather used to silence these individuals from speaking out against the company.

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Anna Sebastian Death: Following Anna Sebastian Perayil’s death, more former employees are now coming out and sharing their experiences of working in the toxic environment at EY. Many individuals have responded to the now viral post by Rajiv Memani, chairperson of EY India, on LinkedIn and shared their own horror stories associated with the organisation.

One such employee, CA Naseera Kazi, talked about how the company has no real plans to make any changes. She pointed out that the ethics hotline maintained by the firm specifically to address sensitive issues such as harassment, mental health abuses, discrimination, etc is rather used to silence these individuals from speaking out against the company. 

Response to LinkedIn post of EY India MD Rajiv Memani by an EY South Africa employee.

It seems toxic work culture, abuse of power in EY is a worldwide phenomenon.#JusticeforAnna #EYIndia #Ernst&Young #EYSA #Big4 pic.twitter.com/M002NUSZUf

— Atul Modani (@atulmodani) September 19, 2024

“I myself, and others, have utilized this hotline multiple times, months ago, to report discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimization and other mental health abuses that EY Partners have subjected me to. Unfortunately, the truth about this hotline is simply that it’s used to identify employees who EY believes should be silenced. These employees are then punished severely for raising these issues against Partners/ managers using the hotline that you suggested we use. Contrary to what you’ve said, EY does not place any importance on the well being of people, instead, peoples mental and physical health is continuously abused, as was done to me. I am now facing severe consequences for reporting these abuses, via the ethics hotline,” she commented.

She also asked what other avenues are available for employees at EY to report their issues and questioned the Chairperson on what efforts have been undertaken to ensure that what happened to Anna doesn’t get repeated. She further informed that this incidence she is referring to took place at EY Dubai.