When a coroner ruled this month that the Treasury “materially contributed” to Chloe Moffat’s death, her parents breathed out in bittersweet relief. For a year, David and Anne Moffat had been forced to become detectives in the worst case any parent could have to solve: why their daughter took her own life. Chloe, 26, went to her job as a personal assistant at the Treasury on a Monday last May “happy as Larry” after a weekend she’d told her friends was a “10 out of 10”.
She was planning a holiday with her sister, Alice, and arranging for friends to come for a dinner party the next weekend. She was, according to her father, living “the best life”. That afternoon, however, she was sent to a surprise disciplinary meeting with her manager and her manager’s manager, which the coroner found left her distressed and convinced she was going to lose her job.
The following morning, Chloe was dead. Anne, 64, who is retired and used to work as the head of care at a children’s hospice, said: “When she first did it, we had to question Chloe. We had to question what might have driven Chloe to this.” She paused, and David added: “Criminality?
Because why would somebody take their own life if they were the person that we expected?” Anne interjected: “Are they on drugs? And so we searched and questioned our own daughter.” None of this was the case. After trawling through emails, talking to Chloe’s friends and colleagues and holding the Treasury to account in a gruelling, multi-day coroner’s court hearing, they found out their daughter had been mistreated by her employer.
She walked out of that meeting absolutely destroyed and never recovered and went down a black hole.” Speaking from their house in the French Alps, which they bought to be near Alice, who lives there and recently had a daughter, the couple seem exhausted. If the Moffats had not fought their daughter’s case, it is likely the coroner would have explained Chloe’s death with one word: suicide. Instead, she made a narrative finding, explaining the circumstances that led up to the death and laying blame partly at the Treasury’s door.
Since that finding two weeks ago, the Moffats have had no contact from the Treasury to offer condolences or an apology. Chloe was described as cheerful, popular and funny, and a person who took her job seriously. Anne added: “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.” The young woman was blindsided after being presented with anonymous complaints that she had shared confidential information at work, which she denied.
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