The father of a civil service employee who took her own life the day after a meeting with her managers has said the lack of support given to her by the Treasury “beggars belief”.
Chloe Moffat, 26, a personal assistant to a Treasury director, died on 20 May last year, after she was told of allegations she had shared sensitive confidential information about colleagues, which she denied.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, David Moffat said he did not feel the Treasury had taken responsibility for its part in her death.
He added that her loss was “devastating”, and had “torn such a big hole in our lives”.
The Treasury said “it will learn the lessons from this tragedy”.
On 19 May 2025, Chloe went to what she thought was a routine one-to-one with her line manager, but a more senior manager was also present.
“Chloe’s first comment was, ‘Oh, this must be serious, there’s two of you here'”, David told Today’s Emma Barnett. “So that’s the first time that she was aware of anything [that] might be a to do.”
“And then they worked through and put several allegations to her that she’d shared confidential information.”
During the meeting, David said she had asked on several occasions if she would lose her job, and if she could have a friend there – both of which were refused.
A coroner found at an inquest earlier in August that the Treasury did not apply written disciplinary policy, which would have made clear that if the allegations against Chloe were proven, the likely penalty was a written warning, not dismissal.
“Even though she asked, they said they could not determine the outcome,” David said.
Straight after the meeting, Chloe was locked out of her emails. “That was all part of the shock and awe of it all for Chloe,” David said.
The coroner found that the meeting between Chloe and her managers “materially contributed” to her death.