Ernst & Young (EY) India is facing significant backlash on social media following the tragic death of 26-year-old Chartered Accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil, who allegedly succumbed to extreme work pressure. In a recent LinkedIn post, EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani expressed his deep sorrow over the tragic death of Anna Sebastian, a young employee from the Pune office.

He 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.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."

Anna, who joined EY Pune in March 2024, passed away four months later in July. Her mother, Anita Augustine, has written an emotional letter to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, seeking justice and calling for reforms within the organization.In the letter to EY India Chairman, Anna's mother Anita wrote, "I am writing this letter as a grieving mother who has lost her precious child... She joined EY Pune on March 19th, 2024, as an Executive... But four months later, on July 20th, my world collapsed when I received the devastating news that Anna had passed away. She was just 26 years old."Amid the public outcry, Jayesh Jain, a former Deloitte employee from Indore, shared his experience of toxic work culture, which included 20-hour workdays.To support his claims, Jayesh Jain shared screenshots of early morning chats with his teammate, highlighting their discussions about work and health at 5am.