ANNA SEBASTIAN PERAYIL

• Precious Child of the family
• A Fresher Chartered Accountant from Kochi, India
• A Meticulous Student who passed CA, one of the toughest exams, with distinction, A Debator
• Having spark for career as CA in Professional World
• Joined her DREAM JOB in EY [So called Big 4] on March 19, 2024
• Lost Her precious life on July 20, 2024, at the age of just 26 years, due to excessive workload given by her organization EY

When things were going as usual in routine, one Letter flashed on the LinkedIn, and shook the entire professional community and everyone who read that letter felt that they have lost someone from their own family.

This was the letter from Ms Anita Augustine, aggrieved mother of Anna, who stated the entire incident step by step that happened in the life of Anna after joining EY. Summary of incidents, taken from the letter itself, is provided below:

Anna Sebastian Perayil was a bright student throughout her career and was very active in extra-curricular activities also. She aspired to become a Chartered Accountant, and qualified CA in November 2023. She joined the EY in Pune, on March 19, 2024 as an Executive [Entry Level position]. She was full of life, dreams, and excitement for the future, because getting first job in Big 4 is charming [as this has been marketed by these entities].

Dream Job started to kill the expectations of Anna from early days itself and she had to face the unexpected work completion demands, extra workload, long working hours. Anna was just a fresher and this type of work culture affected her physically, emotionally, and mentally. She began experiencing anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress soon after joining, but she kept pushing herself, believing that hard work and perseverance were the keys to success.

Her manager would often reschedule meetings during cricket matches and assign her work at the end of the day, adding to her stress. She worked late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath. Her assistant manager used to call her at night with a task deadline of 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.”

Anna was a young professional, just starting her career, so she did not know how to say no. She was trying to prove herself in a new environment, and in doing so, she pushed herself beyond her limits. 

As a Result of this Unprofessional, Inhuman, Selfish, Unethical, Brutal, Barbaric, Foolish, Illiterate, Idiotical behaviour of the management of EY, the DREAM & PRECIOUS LIFE of this bright professional came to an end on July 20, 2024, just in four months of joining her dream job. AND NO ONE FROM EY ATTENDED HER FUNERAL.

Few Questions Directly from EY Top Management:

1. Considering the work ethics adopted by your organization, why you should not be called / tagged as One of the Most Unprofessional / Unethical / Insensitive organization, at least in India?
2. Why should ICAI not be requested to take action against the partners at the management level of EY or Partner firms?
3. Why are you exploiting the young professionals and why do you not have any good work ethics policy at central level? And if there is policy, then why it’s not implemented?
4. Why you should not be considered to have zero humanity,  zero leadership, because Partners are just concerned about their profit share, at whatever cost [even someone’s life] it comes?
5. Why the entire hierarchy, starting from the Reporting Manager, till the Head of Partner Firm and Head of the EY India, should not be directly held responsible for the loss of the life of Anna, because the management & ethics are always top driven?

What We Demand:

1. EY India Head & EY Global Head should offer Written Public Apology for the entire incident that have happened in their organization due the poor and unethical work culture along with explanation.
2. EY should commit that they will re-structure their working style so that there is proper space  / methodology for the newcomers / freshers?
3. EY should create a direct channel, where any aggrieved can complain about any concern / problem, without any fear of job loss or any other adverse action. Also, this to be made part of Appointment Letter issued to candidates.
4. Though life of Anna was precious, and it cannot be reversed even if EY will pay INR 1,00,000 Cr to the aggrieved family, still EY should pay at least INR 100 Cr to the aggrieved family, because maybe she could have created a bigger & better organization than EY in future.

Everyone is requested to support this petition, so that we can approach with strong support to, EY Global, EY India, ICAI President, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour & Employment, PMO, Human Rights Commission for necessary action or guidance.

Created by:

For & on behalf of Every Fresher & Nurturing professional

[Alok Dubey]