Two sides disagree on employee numbers

So just how many people are on the payroll of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane?

That depends on whom you ask.

Bishop William Skylstad claims there are 41 employees.

Yet lawyers representing alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests say hundreds are employed by the diocese.

In court papers filed this week, lawyers John Campbell, of Spokane, and James Stang, of Los Angeles, accuse the diocese of failing to disclose the extent of its work force. They claim the employee numbers left out the following: 90 priests, 100 nuns, lay employees and teachers and other staff at parish schools.

Thus, they argue, the diocese should not be allowed to pay its employees until an accurate number is divulged. Furthermore, the lawyers want to ensure that not a single priest or other employee of the Catholic church accused of sexual abuse is currently collecting any payment or perk from the diocese.

Their argument cuts to the core of what will be the most significant issue in the diocese bankruptcy case: Are parish assets – from endowments to buildings and schools – part of the diocese or simply held in trust by it?

Attorneys Shaun Cross and Michael Paukert argue on behalf of the diocese that parish assets belong to parishes and that employee numbers are therefore accurate.

“The diocese has disclosed who its employees are,” Cross said. “There are 41.”

Campbell and Stang, representing a group called the Unofficial Committee of Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors, say such a claim “simply does not comport with the civil law and with reality.”

“This fictional separation presents an inaccurate picture of the diocese …” they wrote in a court filing seeking to halt payroll disbursements.