EY Row: ‘Did leave EY job in one day despite ₹1 crore salary’- Harsh Goenka on Ashneer’s video

New Delhi| Days after Ernst & Young (EY) employee Anna Sebastian Perayil died allegedly due to “overwork”, an old video of BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover has resurfaced on social media, talking about toxic work cultures. In the video, the former Shark Tank India judge had explained his decision to leave EY within a day despite receiving a Rs 1 crore package.

In the clip, Ashneer Grover is seen telling how he left the job of EY within a day. “I went into the office, looked around and pretended to have chest pains to get out”, Grover said, “He justified his decision by calling the office environment lifeless. He used words like “dead” and “corpse” of the employees there.”

However, he also put forward a controversial idea that the best offices are those that are considered “toxic” because, according to him, this is where the work takes place. “If someone is saying that there is a toxic culture in an office, that is the best”, Ashneer Grover said.

While sharing the video, billionaire industrialist Harsh Goenka had criticized Ashneer Grover and said that he was promoting a “toxic work environment”. Goenka wrote on X, “It’s puzzling to see anyone advocating a toxic environment,” He also added the hashtag #AnnaPerayil.

Anna Sebastian, a 26-year-old chartered accountant who was attached to EY’s Pune office four months ago, died in July. His death was reportedly caused by excessive work pressure. Anna’s mother claimed in a letter that her daughter’s death was due to “overwork” and accused the company of neglecting the well-being of employees.

The mournful mother also said that no one from EY attended the funeral and urged the company to reevaluate its work culture to prevent such tragedies in the future. “I hope that my letter will make a real difference so that no other family will have to suffer the misery that we had to endure”, he wrote

In a statement, EY India Chairman Rajeev Memani spoke out on the death of Anna, 26, and promised that they would not “rest” until the company had created a truly harmonious workplace. “I am fully committed to promoting a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until this objective is met”, he wrote on LinkedIn He also expressed regret that no one from EY attended Anna’s funeral, calling it “completely against the culture of the company”.