Ernst and Young CEO reveals why he refused to mention worker Aishwarya Venkatachalam in speech after her death

The CEO of Ersnt and Young has revealed why he refused to mention the name of a young auditor who took her life - but his reasoning has been smashed online.

The CEO of financial services firm Ernst and Young refused to mention the name of a staff member who took her own life in a speech to staff out of respect for her grieving family.

In the early hours of August 27, the body of senior auditor Aishwarya Venkatachalam was found by police responding to a concern for welfare report. Police believe self-harm was involved and have not investigated her death as suspicious.

She had earlier been at a work drinks event at The Ivy in Sydney’s CBD.

Speaking at a town hall meeting that brought together about 9000 staff, EY CEO David Larocca spent four minutes talking about Ms Venkatachalam’s death.

Mr Larocca didn’t refer to the former auditor by name, instead referring to Ms Venkatachalam, 27, as “one our Sydney assurance team members”, Daily Mail Australia reported.

He insisted the decision not to refer to Ms Venkatachalam was the family’s request, and acknowledged the lack of transparency would make some workers feel “uncomfortable”.

“Some of you may also have read the name of the individual in the media and at the family’s request, we’ve been working to maintain space and privacy so this is why we aren’t mentioning her name, we’re really taking guidance from her family.”

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Mr Larocca had insisted the company was 'working to maintain space and privacy for Ms Venkatachalam's family'.

LinkedIn users took aim at Mr Larocca, calling on him to “say her name” following the controversy.

The company later released a letter explaining it was now “consulting with independent experts specialising in workplace culture”.

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for the family, friends and colleagues of our audit colleague Aishwarya Venkatachalam, following her tragic death late last month. It has shocked and saddened all of us at EY,” a statement said.

The EY employee who was found dead at the firm’s Sydney office has been identified as Aishwarya Venkatachalam. Picture: Instagram

“Since the tragic event, we have been consulting with independent experts specialising in workplace culture, healthy work practices and psychological safety to shape the framework for a rigorous and wide-ranging review of EY Australia.

“We will shortly be announcing details of the firm engaged to undertake this review. We are fully committed to transparency with the findings and implementation of the review recommendations.”

Since her death, a friend of Ms Venkatachalam claimed she had complained about bullying and racism within the workplace in the months prior to her death.

Neeti Bisht referred to a conversation the pair had in April of this year.

In the early hours of Saturday, August 27, the body of senior auditor, Aishwarya Venkatachalam, was found by police responding to a concern for welfare report.

“She mentioned how mean some of her colleagues were,” she said.

“I think things had just started to brew then … (some of) her colleagues and the racist angle was at play here.”

There is no suggestion that any of Ms Venkatachalam’s colleague contributed towards her death.

In the aftermath of Ms Venkatachalam’s death, a statement from Mr Larocca said the firm was “in the process of conducting a comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review encompassing health and safety, security, social events as they relate to our staff”. Speaking of the independent review, he said the company was still “refining the scope”.

“But it will look at security and safety of our premises, how we work, including how we connect at social functions, and the mental health and wellbeing supports that we have at EY,” he said.