EY India Chief Rajiv Memani trolled for corporate lingo-filled LinkedIn post on Anna Sebastian Perayil's death
While acknowledging that he was aware of the posts on social media, Rajiv Memani said, "It has always been very important to us to create a healthy workplace and we attach the highest importance to the well-being of our people."
Rajiv Memani, the Chairman of EY India, has come under heavy criticism on social media after he broke his silence on the death of a young chartered accountant in the audit firm's Pune office in July. In a post on LinkedIn, Memani addressed some of the serious allegations Anita Augustine, the mother of Anna Sebastian Perayil, had raised in her letter.
CREDIT: EY
'Conveyed deepest condolences to Anna's family'
"I am deeply saddened and, as a father, I can only imagine Ms Augustine¡¯s grief. I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives," Memani said.
'Alien to our culture'
On no one from EY attending Anna's funeral, Memani said it was unprecedented and promised it would not happen again.
"I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna¡¯s funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again," he wrote.
'Highest importance to employee well-being'
After the letter Anna's mother wrote to Memani went viral, social media platforms including LinkedIn, Reddit and X have been exploding with horror stories of current and former EY employees, narrating the toxic work culture in the accounting firm.
While acknowledging that he was aware of the posts on social media, Memani said, "It has always been very important to us to create a healthy workplace and we attach the highest importance to the well-being of our people."
CREDIT: EY
He also promised to make employees' well-being and improving EY's work culture his priorities.
"I would like to affirm that the well-being of our people is my topmost 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," he said.
Social media reactions
Many on LinkedIn, however, felt that Memani failed to address the core issues and his post was nothing but an empty corporate speech, lacking any clear plan of action to fix the issues.
Some also pointed out that Memani was forced to act only due to the social media reaction to the mother's letter when they had been silent on the matter since July.
CREDIT: BCCL
Government to probe EY
Memani broke his silence on Anna's death, the day the Union Labour and Employment Ministry launched a probe into the matter.
"Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway. We are committed to ensuring justice & the Labour Ministry has officially taken up the complaint," Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje said on X.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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