Chloe Moffat, 26, went to work at the Treasury on a Monday last May saying her weekend was “10 out of 10.” By the following morning, she was dead, after a surprise disciplinary meeting left her distressed and convinced she would lose her job.
The coroner ruled this month that the Treasury materially contributed to her death, moving the case beyond a finding about how she died and into a formal judgment on the department’s role. That finding has put David Moffat and Anne Moffat on the path toward possible wrongful death action.
Monday last May
Chloe worked as a personal assistant and had been planning ordinary future plans: a holiday with her sister, Alice, and a dinner party with friends the next weekend. David Moffat said she was living “the best life.” Yet after arriving at work, she was sent to a disciplinary meeting with her manager and her manager’s manager that afternoon.
Anne Moffat said the meeting blindsided Chloe after anonymous complaints that she had shared confidential information at work. Chloe denied that she had shared confidential information, but she was not reassured that her job was safe and was not offered a third party to support or advise her during the meeting.
The inquest finding
The coroner made a narrative finding that set out the circumstances leading up to Chloe’s death and laid blame partly at the Treasury’s door. An inquest finding on the Treasury’s role went further than a simple explanation of death: it identified the disciplinary meeting as the point at which distress escalated.
David Moffat and Anne Moffat spent a year trying to understand why their daughter took her own life. Anne said, “After our investigations, it was clear it was literally that one-to-one meeting.” She also said, “Chloe never recovered. She walked out of that meeting absolutely destroyed and never recovered and went down a black hole.”
What the Moffats may do next
The parents have been considering suing for wrongful death. In practice, that would mean asking a court to examine whether the Treasury’s conduct in the meeting and the steps that followed created liability for the loss of Chloe’s life.
David Moffat said, “Now that the inquest has said that the coroner has found them responsible for Chloe’s death, we would have expected for them to have written to us.” He said the Treasury had not written to them with condolences or an apology two weeks ago, after the finding was issued.
Anne Moffat said the case changed what she thought people needed to know about sudden work pressure: “I didn’t realise, but people like Chloe, who are bright, confident perfectionists, when they’re given a piece of shocking news such as they might lose their job, can be very vulnerable.” For the family, the next step is legal, and the finding has given them the basis to pursue it.
