Anna Sebastian Perayil worked at the company for four months. (Representative)
The mother of a young woman has written a heartbreaking letter to the chairman of Ernst & Young India, alleging that her daughter died four months after joining the company due to 'overwork' and that no one from the organisation attended her funeral.
In the letter, the mother also made an impassioned appeal to the company's top brass to improve a work culture that “seems to glorify overwork and ignore the people behind the jobs themselves.” She said she hoped her daughter's death would serve as a wake-up call.
EY India said in a statement that it was deeply saddened by the employee's passing and took the family's correspondence with “utmost seriousness and humility”.
Anita Augustine, the mother of Anna Sebastian Perayil, wrote in a letter to Rajiv Memani, the Chairman of EY India, that her heart was heavy and her soul broken, but she needed the letter in the hope that no other family has to go through the same thing as hers.
Ms. Augustine wrote that Anna passed her Chartered Accountant (CA) exams on November 23 last year and joined EY Pune on March 19.
“She was full of life, dreams and excitement for the future. EY was her first job and she was excited to be part of such a prestigious company. But four months later, on July 20, 2024, my world collapsed when I received the devastating news that Anna had passed away. She was only 26 years old,” she wrote.
Mrs. Augustine described Anna as a fighter who excelled in school and college. She was the best in school and college, excelled in extracurricular activities and passed her CA exams with distinction.
When Anna joined EY Pune, she was told that many employees in her team had left due to high workloads. Her manager asked her to stay to change that perception.
“She worked tirelessly at EY, giving her all to meet the demands placed on her. However, the workload, new environment and long hours took their toll on her physically, emotionally and mentally. She began to suffer from anxiety, insomnia and stress soon after joining, but she continued to push herself, believing that hard work and perseverance were the keys to success,” recalls Ms. Augustine.
Late for her own meeting
Mrs. Augustine said that she and her husband had gone to Pune on July 6 to attend Anna’s CA convocation and that her young daughter had complained of chest tightness the week before after reaching her paying guest house around 1 a.m. They took her to a hospital in Pune and her echocardiogram (ECG) was normal, with a cardiologist telling the family that she was eating very late and not sleeping enough. The fact that he prescribed antacids, she wrote, allayed their fears.
“Though we came all the way from Kochi, she insisted on going to work after visiting the doctor as she said there was a lot of work to be done and she would not get any leave. That evening she again came back to her PG late. On Sunday, July 7, the day of her convocation, she joined us in the morning but she worked from home even till afternoon that day and we reached the convocation venue late,” she said.
Mrs. Augustine explained that it was Anna's dream to pay the fees her parents had to pay to attend the graduation ceremony and that she had booked their plane tickets.
“It breaks my heart to tell you that even those two days, which were the last we spent with our child, she could not enjoy them because of the pressure of work,” she wrote in the letter.
Working at night, Sunday
Ms. Augustine wrote that not only had Anna's manager asked her to change her perception of her team, but at an office party a supervisor had also joked that she would find it difficult to work under that particular colleague.
She said that tasks outside the official work were assigned verbally and she asked her daughter not to do them, but the managers were adamant.
“She worked late into the night, even on weekends, without a chance to catch her breath. Her assistant manager once called her in the evening with a task due the next morning, leaving her with little time to rest or recover. When she expressed her concerns, she was met with a dismissive response: 'You can work nights; we all do,'” she wrote.
“Anna would return to her room completely exhausted, sometimes collapsing on the bed without even changing her clothes, only to be bombarded with messages asking for more reports. She tried her best, working very hard to meet the deadlines. She was a fighter through and through, not one to give up easily. We told her to stop, but she wanted to learn and gain new experiences. However, the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her,” Mrs. Augustine despaired.
The heartbroken mother said that because Anna was just starting out in her career, she didn't have “the experience or the agency” to set boundaries or resist unreasonable demands. In her efforts to prove herself, she said, Anna ended up pushing herself past her limits.
“I wish I could have protected her, told her that her health and well-being were more important than anything. But it's too late for my Anna,” she wrote.
Call for change
Ms Augustine called what happened to Anna a systemic problem and asked Mr Memani to investigate the organisation's work culture.
“Anna would never have blamed her managers. She was too kind for that. But I cannot remain silent. Burdening newcomers with such backbreaking work, making them work day and night, even on Sundays, has no justification whatsoever… You should show some consideration for new employees. Instead, management took advantage of her newness and overwhelmed her with both assigned and unassigned work,” the mother wrote.
“Anna’s experience shines a light on a workplace culture that seems to glorify overwork, while neglecting the people behind the roles. This isn’t just about my daughter, it’s about every young professional who joins EY full of hopes and dreams, only to be crushed under the weight of unrealistic expectations… Anna’s death should be a wake-up call for EY. It’s time to reflect on the workplace culture within your organisation and take meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellbeing of your employees,” she said, adding that an environment must be created where employees feel safe to speak up, are supported to manage their workload and “where their mental and physical wellbeing is not sacrificed in favour of productivity”.
Ms Augustine said no one from EY attended Anna's funeral, which the family found deeply hurtful. She stressed that this showed a lack of empathy and said she had contacted Anna's managers after the funeral but had not received a response.
“I don't know if anyone can truly understand the emotions of a mother as she lays to rest her child – the child she held in her arms, watched grow, play, cry and dream with – unless they have experienced the same pain. I hope that my child's experience leads to real change, so that no other family has to go through the grief and trauma that we are going through. My Anna is gone, but her story can still make a difference,” she concluded.
EY statement
EY India, in a statement, called Anna's death an irreparable loss.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely demise of Anna Sebastian in July 2024 and our deepest condolences go out to the bereaved family. Anna was part of the audit team at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months and joined the firm on March 18, 2024. To see her promising career cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss to all of us. While no measure can compensate for the family's loss, we have extended all assistance as we always do in such times of need and will continue to do so,” the statement said.
“We take the family's correspondence very seriously and with humility. We attach utmost importance to the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to uplift our 1,00,000 people across all EY member companies in India and provide a healthy workplace,” the company added.
