26-year-old EY Pune Employee Succumbs to ‘Work Stress’ Four Months After Joining, Mother Writes to Firm’s India Boss

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She went on to describe her daughter’s deteriorating condition: “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 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.”

In her email to the company’s India head, Augustine accused the firm of “glorifying overwork”. She added that her daughter, being new to the “organization, location, and language,” felt “overwhelmed by both assigned and unassigned tasks”.

“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 expressed.

Augustine further highlighted stark difference between the company’s human rights statement and what her daughter went through. She asked, “How can EY begin to truly live by the values it professes?”

The grieving mother said that her daughter’s death should serve as a “wake-up call” for the company: “It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organisation and take meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellness of your employees.”

Augustine further claimed that EY Pune employees skipped her daughter’s funeral, adding, “This absence at such a critical moment, for an employee who gave her all to your organisation 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?”

While the exact cause of her death is not clear, the email highlighted that weeks prior to her death, Perayil had been complaining of “chest constriction”. “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.” The 26-year-old woman died on July 20.

There was no immediate reaction from the company. The exact circumstances around the death of the woman were not clear from the email.