Ashneer Grover’s old video of EY office visit goes viral amid outrage over employee’s death

Former BharatPe founder and Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover's old video, posted a few years ago, talking about his Ernst & Young (EY) office visit, went viral on social media platform X on Friday, amid outrage over a 26-year-old employee's death, allegedly due to work-related stress. 

In the video, Grover discussed his career and experience at EY. During his time there, the company allegedly offered him ₹1 crore and the position of a partner. 

Grover highlighted the company's work culture issue, which he noticed during his visit to its office and observed EY's work culture. The office was full of dead employees, with only their bodies remaining in the office, waiting for their last rights, he said in the video.

“Itne mare hue log, matlab kriya karam karna reh gaya tha, sab laashe padi this,” said Ashneer Grover in the video.

Grover called this the “worst culture”, where you enter the office, and everyone is quiet. A place like that won't be anything beneficial for an employee, he said, sharing his personal experience.

Best offices are those where the fight takes place; people talk about (having) a 'toxic culture'. Work is actually happening only in such places. Otherwise, you'll find a lot of non-toxic places, said Grover.

Grover's video resurfaced on social media after a young EY employee's death, allegedly due to extreme work pressure, sparked outrage. Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant working for EY India, died on July 20, after collapsing at her home.

Sebastian's mother wrote a letter to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memami, claiming that workload, new environment, and long hours took a toll on her health physically, emotionally, and mentally. The letter went viral on September 18. Mint couldn't independently verify the claim.

The Ministry of Labour stepped in after the incident went viral on social media. The ministry said it would investigate the work environment at EY.

What EY said in a statement

“We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family.

Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us. While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so.

We are taking the family’s correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India."