Following the death of a 26-year-old EY employee, the government begins investigating allegations of an “unsafe work environment”

“We are 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. We are committed to justice and @LabourMinistry has formally registered the complaint. @mansukhmandviya,” said Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, on microblogging platform X.

Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation into allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway. We are committed to justice and @Ministry of Labour has officially accepted the complaint.@mansukhmandviya https://t.co/1apsOm594d

— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) 19 September 2024

She was responding to a post by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who said the news of the EY employee's death was very sad and disturbing on many levels.
He had called on the government to investigate the mother's allegations that “an unsafe and exploitative working environment had claimed the life of young Anna Sebastian Perayil and her future prospects”.

The woman's family claims she died under “work pressure” and due to long working hours at EY, where she started four months ago.

Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant working with SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, at Yerawada in Pune, died on July 20 while undergoing treatment at a city hospital. She was admitted after feeling unwell and complaining of exhaustion. Her colleagues were told she died of a heart attack, reports said.

The incident came to light after a letter written by her mother Anita Augustine to the head of EY in India went viral on social media earlier this week. According to the letter shared on social media, Augustine claimed that her daughter was allegedly under extreme work pressure which affected her health and eventually led to her death. She also highlighted the company's “new environment” which “may prove detrimental to the health of other employees in the future”.

She also said that no one from EY attended her daughter's funeral.

However, following the allegations, EY said in a statement: “We take the family's correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. The wellbeing of all employees is our highest priority and we will continue to look for ways to provide and improve a healthy workplace for our 100,000 employees in EY member firms in India.”

The company added that it was deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely death of Anna Sebastian in July 2024.

“Anna was part of the audit team at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a short period of four months and joined the firm on March 18, 2024. That her promising career has been cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us. While no measure can compensate for the family's loss, as always, we have provided every support in such times of need and will continue to do so,” the company said in the statement.