‘EY is in the crosshairs’: Anna Sebastian’s death sparks outrage as officials say long working hours are a wider problem

A senior EY official on Friday said the issue of “long working hours” is not just a company-specific issue but a widespread one at the moment. She said the issue “needs to be addressed on a larger scale”. Her comments came amid uproar over the death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian at EY’s Pune office.

Death of Anna Sebastian

Anna Sebastian Perajil died in July. In a “leaked” letter to EY India chairman Rajiv Memmami, Sebastian’s mother claimed that “the 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 had been with S Batliboi, an EY Global member firm in Pune, as a member of the audit team for a short period of four months. She joined the firm on March 18, 2024.

Sebastian’s death has sparked outrage on social media. Rajiv Memami responded to the “tragic passing of Anna Sebastian” in a LinkedIn post. He said he expressed his deepest condolences to her family, “even though nothing can fill the void in their lives.” He said, “Creating a healthy workplace has always been very important to us…”

However, in comments under Memami’s LinkedIn post, relatives of former EY employees complained about the work culture of the “rotten organization.”

One comment read: “My son went through this nonsense a few years ago. I was luckier. He left after two years but was exhausted. As parents we worried about whether he would return to work. It took him six months to get back to work but the memory is vivid. I remember how upset I was but I never said it because he wouldn’t let me. You should apologize to everyone who worked in this corrupt organization.”

Many users also criticised Memami for his “lack of empathy and emotion”.

EY clarification: Anna’s roommate called and said…

Pushpanjali Singh, associate director, brand, marketing and communications at EY, issued a statement on Friday explaining what “actually” happened when the incident took place.

Singh told Mint that on the evening of July 20 this year, “the team received a call from Anna’s roommate saying that she had passed away due to cardiac arrest.”

“Since then, the team, HR and administration have been in touch with the family and providing them all the necessary support,” Singh said. However, “the family said we are handling the matter well and they don’t need any support,” she added.

Singh claimed: “The team had no idea that the family was upset or that they were being rude or anything like that… It wasn’t until three months later that the mother wrote the email and it was leaked on social media and caused an uproar.”

‘EY is under attack’

Pushpanjali Singh said EY is being targeted. Asked about people sharing and complaining about their experiences at EY, Singh said: “I cannot confirm [those claims]… On social media, people are free to write anything.”

Talking about the culture of “long working hours”, Singh said: “This is not just an EY problem, it is everywhere…Working culture is a universal problem at present, we all know it. It exists in all industries…”

“These things need to be addressed on a larger scale. It is not limited to one company… Unfortunately, this incident happened and EY became a target,” said a senior EY official.

“Terrible” experience, long working hours

Gurjyot Singh, a former EY employee, said on LinkedIn: “Having worked at EY India, I don’t think this toxic culture will ever change. I worked on a project with an EY partner (now at PwC) who I don’t want to name. The partner was forced to work all night, weekends, even while sick, and even on his way to the client’s office. He did not hesitate to use abusive language and humiliate the client.”

“I worked at KPMG India for a few months and the culture was even worse, with some very bad people there making my life worse than hell,” Singh said.

Another former employee, Luv Solanki, said: “I was an employee at EY. While working there, my supervisor asked me to work 17-18 hours a day. When I reported this to HR, she thought it might be due to client demands. Even when I tried to express my concerns, my colleagues often laughed at me in team meetings.”

In an official statement, EY said it “will continue to look for ways to provide a better workplace and a healthy work environment for the 100,000 employees of EY member firms in India.” The firm expressed grief over the death of Anna Sebastian and said, “While no measures can compensate for the loss suffered by the family, we have always provided all assistance in times of crisis like this and will continue to do so.”