After being on the receiving end of massive backlash over the death of an employee, Ernst and Young India Chairman Rajiv Memani on Friday said that he “regrets” missing the 26-year-old CA Anna Sebastian Perayil’s funeral.
In a letter addressed to Memani, Anna’s mother Anita Augustine blamed the company for the death of her daughter as she was overworked and did not even get time to “catch a breath.” She added that at the time of her demise, none of her colleagues showed up for Anna’s funeral.
“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,” Memani said in a post on LinkedIn, adding that as a father himself was “aggrieved by Anna’s death.”
This comes a day after Memani told the Indian Express that Anna was allotted work like “any other employee” and that he “does not believe that work pressure could have claimed her life.”
In his most recent post on LinkedIn, Memani added, “Over the past few days, I am aware that people have in their social media posts commented on some of our work practices. 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. 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.”
Govt launches probe
Meanwhile, the central government has launched a probe into allegations made by Anna’s parents.
MoS for Labour Ministry Shobha Karandlaje announced on Thursday that the government had launched into the allegations after officially filing a complaint.
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 & Labour Ministry has officially taken up the complaint,” Karandlaje said on X.
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