Treasury accepts role in death of woman, 26, who took her own life day after complaint sparked by office gossip

THE Treasury has accepted its role in the death of a 26-year-old woman who took her own life over an office complaint.

Chloe Moffat, died on May 20 last year, just one day after she was called into a disciplinary meeting and accused of sharing confidential information.

The personal assistant from Brixton, South London, had not been reassured by management that her job was safe – even though she was unlikely to be sacked.

Chloe, who “loved her job” and had an “exemplary employment record”, was left in a state of “distress” following the meeting and was found dead the next day.

Now, in a statement, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office wrote that they “accept the concerns identified” and “take them extremely seriously”, reports The Times.

The Cabinet Office added that it would also undertake a review of workplace conflict and resolution across Whitehall within a year.

Chloe’s inquest in August found that the Treasury had “materially contributed” to her death by not clarifying that the probable penalty if allegations against her were proven would be a written warning and not dismissal.

The Treasury said it “accepted the findings in the report in full”, the Times has now reported.

A statement from the department read: “HM Treasury has considered these concerns carefully and has taken immediate steps to mitigate the identified risks.

“While this work introduces some enhancements, much of it is intended to strengthen, clarify and build on the procedures and support already in place.

“The Treasury’s deepest sympathies continue to be with Chloe’s friends and family, and the department continues to mourn our colleague.

“An independent review found staff acted in good faith and with a duty of care throughout.”

On May 19, Chloe was called into a meeting with two minutes with just five minutes’ notice, a court heard.

She was subsequently informed that two colleagues had alleged she had shared confidential information about other employees – claims she denied.

When Chloe asked whether she’d lose her job, the senior manager said she “could not predict the outcome at this stage”.

After the meeting, she temporarily lost access to her director’s email inbox and diary and advised not to speak to colleagues about the allegations and potential investigation.

One friend previously revealed she received a text from Chloe on the same day as the proceedings which read: “I am going to be fired.”

The pair met up in central London where Chloe “broke down crying” and was “distressed” by the allegations.

Chloe also spoke to her mum after the meeting who said the 26-year-old was convinced she wouldn’t be able to return to her role even if she kept her job “because she no longer knew who she could trust”.

After speaking to her father, Chloe had agreed to stay at the family’s home in Surrey where they talked about a potential weekend trip to Oxford.

But the next morning, David tragically discovered his daughter’s body – the coroner ruled her death as suicide.

In August, Chloe’s parents blasted the accusations against their daughter as “vexatious” and “nothing more than office gossip”,

Her father said that she had been left so distraught by what had happened that “in her eyes, her life was destroyed” and labelled it as “unforgivable”.

The Treasury have now said that immediate measures had been introduced to address the concerns raised, including strengthened “wellbeing safeguards”, a suicide prevention network and ending the practice of informal fact-finding meetings while a full policy review was conducted.

Employees facing misconduct allegations are now informed of the possible outcomes before being asked to respond, it added.