The death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian, who worked at EY's Pune office, has sparked outrage among social media users and former EY employees. Many ex-employees commented on EY India Chairman Rajiv Memami's LinkedIn post to highlight the “toxicity” in the company's work culture.
Anna Sebastian Perayil died on July 20 after collapsing at home. In a letter to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memami, Sebastian's mother claimed that “workload, new environment, and long hours took a toll on her physically, emotionally and mentally.” The letter went viral on social media on September 18.
Mint could not independently verify the claim.
Anna was a part of the audit team at S Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months. She had joined the firm on March 18 2024.
As Sebastian's death sparked outrage over social media, Rajiv Memami reacted to the “tragic demise of Anna Sebastian” in a LinkedIn post.
Memami said he conveyed his deepest condolences to her family, “although nothing can fill the void in their lives.” He said it has always been “very important to us to create a healthy workplace.”
He said, “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.”
Memami faced a backlash over his LinkedIn post. A relative of a former EY employee took to the comment section to complain about the work culture at the “rotten organisation.”
The comment read, “My son went through this nonsense years back. I was more fortunate. He left after 2 years but was completely burnt out. As parents we were worried if he would get back to work. It took him 6 months, but the memories don't go. I remember how upset I used to be but never spoke up as he wouldn't let me. You owe an apology to one and all who worked with this rotten organisation [sic].”
Another comment by one Siddhartha Arora stated, “Rajiv Memani: Without a doubt, EY is the most rotten professional services firm in India, I can absolutely identify with what Anna might have been through. During my (thankfully brief) stint at EY, I saw Partners who abused and bullied, Sr. Managers who suffered from d-syndrome, and colleagues who were literally incentivized to back-stab and be non-cooperative [sic].”
Many users also criticised Memami for “lacking empathy and emotion.”
Gurjyot Singh, a former EY employee, said on LinkedIn, “Having worked with EY India, I don't think toxic culture will ever change. Don't want to name the EY Partner (now gone to PwC) I was working with on a project. After being forced to work full nights, weekends, even while being sick and also working while travelling to client office, that partner didn't even think twice before using abusive language and shaming [sic]."
“The culture is even worse in KPMG India, where I worked only for few months, that had some terrible people who made my life worse than hell,” Singh added.
Another former employee, Luv Solanki, said, “I am a former employee of EY. During my time there, my Director asked me to work 17-18 hours a day. When I reported this to HR, she suggested it might be due to client demands. Even when trying to voice my concerns, my colleagues often mocked me during team meetings.”
In an official statement, EY said it “will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India.”
The company expressed grief over Anna Sebastian's death and said, ”While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so."
Sandhya Talatam, who claimed to have worked at EY between 2010 and 2013, said, “...it continues to be one of the top three worst experiences of my life. This was 14 years ago, and yet the toxicity of your organization gives me goose pimples even today [sic].”
Meanwhile, one user named Aliasgar Lalipurwala took a dig at EY India boss Rajiv Memani for saying that “it is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again,” while reacting to Anna's incident.
Aliasgar asked, “...what is alien to our culture? Being empathetic with our colleagues, is that alien culture? Being a mentor instead of a dictator, is that alien culture? Keeping a track of one's health and wellbeing, is that alien culture? What justification is this? You're a chairman to a big conglomerate, and this is not at all justified. You have to acknowledge the flaws in [sic]," he said.
In an official statement, EY expressed grief for Anna Sebastian's “tragic and untimely passing in July 2024” and extended “condolences to the bereaved family.” EY said, “will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India."
The EY said in its official statement, “We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family.
“While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so,” the company said.
It added, "We are taking the family’s correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India."
