The Daily Caveat wrote earlier this week about the pending inquest regarding the death of a London-are Abbey Bank employee, Richard Chang who fell do his death last year immediately following an interrogation involving bank personnel and representatives from security contractor, Kroll. The interview related to an ongoing internal investigation into the origins of an anonymous letter that was circulated to bank officials and described sexual misconduct and corruption in the dispensation of Abbey Bank IT contract. Chang was a suspected source of the letter.

Chang's family sought confirmation via the inquest that Abbey Bank and or Kroll violated British employment law in the course of the internal investigation and potentially contributed to Chang's death. The jury at the inquest deliberated for less that an hour before returning with a verdict of suicide. No fault was ascribed to either Kroll or Abbey bank, although the coronor did offer the following:

The coroner said he will send a report to employee arbitration service ACAS to help provide guidance for employers dealing with similar investigations in future, although he said this implied no blame on Abbey's conduct. "When an interview has been conducted the employee should not be unescorted. There is a risk of the employee being rendered vulnerable by the interview. There is an issue about preventing similar fatalities. This case is obviously tragic and employers are going to be faced with these situations in future," the coroner said.

Chang's widow, speaking on behalf of her family, was unmoved by the court's ruling:

Chang's widow Lay Pen Lim said in a statement released after the verdict that her husband had been deceived into attending the meeting and then subjected to "consistently hectoring and misleading" questioning by Jones. "I believe that, had this meeting not taken place, Richard would still be with us today. Richard had everything to live for. The children and I are absolutely devastated. We will never get over our loss," she said.

The full story can be read here.

-- MDT

Labels: Kroll