Within four months of joining Ernst & Young Pune, one of the big four accounting firms, a 26-year-old woman unfortunately lost her life from what her family described as work-related stress. Young chartered accountant (CA) Anna Sebastian Perayil of Kerala passed away after being "burdened with backbreaking work" by the company.
Perayil's mother, Anita Augustine, wrote an email to the company's India director, Rajiv Memani, following the tragic loss of her daughter's life.
She denounced the company in her letter for "glorifying overwork" and emphasized how the company's human rights principles were in direct opposition to what her daughter had to go through.
Perayil became an executive at EY Pune in March 2024 after passing her CA exams in 2023. She "worked tirelessly to meet the expectations," but the effort had a negative impact on her physical, mental, and emotional well-being because it was her first job.
Her mother claims that "shortly after joining, she began experiencing anxiety, insomnia, and stress, but she continued to push herself, believing hard work and perseverance were the path to success."
Her mother said her daughter's boss advised her to "stick around and change everyone's opinion about the team" because a lot of "employees resigned due to the excessive workload."
“Her manager would often reschedule meetings during cricket matches and assign her work at the end of the day, adding to her stress. At an office party, a senior leader even joked that she would have a tough time working under her manager, which, unfortunately, became a reality she could not escape,” Augustine added.
Furthermore, she said that her daughter worked "late into the night and even on weekends."
“Anna confided in us about the overwhelming workload, especially the tasks assigned verbally, beyond the official work. I would tell her not to take on such tasks, but the managers were relentless. She worked late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath,” said Anna’s mother.
Augustine recalled a story about an assignment given by her daughter's supervisor late at night that had an early deadline.
“Her assistant manager once called her at night with a task that needed to be completed by the next morning, leaving her with barely any time to rest or recover. When she voiced her concerns, she was met with the dismissive response, ‘You can work at night; that’s what we all do', she said.
Explaining her daughter's worsening state, the mother continued, “Anna would return to her room utterly exhausted, sometimes collapsing on the bed without even changing her clothes, only to be bombarded with messages asking for more reports. She was putting in her best efforts, working very hard to meet the deadlines. She was a fighter to the core, not someone to give up easily. We told her to quit, but she wanted to learn and gain new exposure. However, the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her.”
Augustine accused the company of "glorifying overwork" in an email to the head of the India division. She continued by saying that her daughter felt "overwhelmed by both assigned and unassigned tasks" because she was unfamiliar with the "organization, location, and language."
“Anna was a young professional. Like many in her position, she did not have the experience or the agency to draw boundaries or push back against unreasonable demands. She did not know how to say no. She was trying to probe herself in a new environment, and in doing so, she pushed herself beyond limits. And now she is no longer with us,” Augustine further added.
She emphasized the sharp contrast between the company's human rights statement and what her daughter experienced. She requested an answer: "How can EY begin to truly live by the values it professes?"
The bereaved mother said her daughter's death should serve as a "wake-up call" for the company, saying, "It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organization and take meaningful steps to prioritize the health and wellness of your employees."
Augustine alleged that EY Pune staff did not even attend her daughter's funeral, which she found profoundly distressing.
"This absence at such a critical moment, for an employee who gave her all to your organization until her last breath, is deeply hurtful... After her funeral, I reached out to her managers but received no reply. How can a company that speaks of values and human rights fail to show up for one of its own in their final moments?” she asked.
While the specific reason for her death is unknown, the email claimed that Perayil had complained of "chest constriction" many weeks before her death.
“We took her to the hospital in Pune. Her ECG was normal, and the cardiologist came to allay our fears, telling us she wasn’t getting enough sleep and was eating very late. He prescribed antacids, which reassured us that it wasn’t anything serious,” her mother said.
