‘Why did her boss ambush our daughter?’ Grieving parents ask why Treasury manager confronted 26-year-old over office gossip in meeting that led to her death
Chloe Moffat, a 26-year-old Treasury personal assistant, died by suicide in May last year after a workplace meeting in which she was accused of sharing confidential information about colleagues. Her parents have criticised the meeting as an unfair “ambush” over what they describe as office gossip, while a coroner found that the Treasury materially contributed to her death by failing to follow its own HR procedures.
Ms Moffat, who had an exemplary record over nearly three years, repeatedly asked whether her job was at risk and whether a friend could support her during the meeting; both requests were refused. The allegations concerned a colleague’s job move, a workplace relationship and salaries, and the coroner said proper disciplinary procedures would likely have indicated that dismissal was unlikely, with a written warning the most probable outcome if the claims were proven. After being locked out of her emails, Ms Moffat told a friend she believed she would be fired; she was found dead at her family home the following day.
- Coroner says Treasury procedural failures materially contributed to Chloe Moffat’s death.
- Parents question why minor workplace allegations prompted such a confronting meeting.
- Proper procedures indicated dismissal was unlikely.
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The Treasury is the UK government department responsible for public spending, taxation and economic policy. Like other large employers, it has rules for dealing with concerns about staff conduct, including processes intended to make sure employees understand allegations and have a fair chance to respond.
Chloe Moffat worked there as a personal assistant, a role that can involve access to sensitive information and close contact with senior staff. The meeting concerned claims that she had discussed private details about colleagues, such as jobs, pay and relationships, which the department treated as potentially confidential.
A coroner investigates deaths and can examine whether organisations or circumstances played a part. In this case, the coroner concluded that failures in the Treasury’s handling of the meeting materially contributed to Ms Moffat’s death, while her family have raised questions about how the concerns were put to her.
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The case for
The parents’ case is that the Treasury treated a well-regarded young employee as though dismissal were imminent without giving her the basic safeguards of a fair process. Refusing support at a meeting, declining to clarify the likely consequences and locking her out of her emails could reasonably have made the allegations feel catastrophic; the coroner’s finding that HR procedures were not followed gives this concern particular force. Their argument rests on the duty of care employers owe staff, especially when disciplinary action may cause acute distress.
The case against
The Treasury and its managers could reasonably argue that allegations of sharing confidential information about colleagues, including pay and personal matters, required prompt and serious examination. Managers may need to limit outside involvement in an initial fact-finding meeting, avoid pre-judging the outcome and restrict systems access while protecting confidential material. On this view, the need to uphold workplace trust and investigate complaints fairly does not itself establish that confronting the allegations was wrong, even though the coroner found the way the process was handled fell short.