Sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy is perhaps the
greatest scandal in the history of the Catholic Church in the
United States. On September 7, 2007, the Roman Catholic
Diocese of San Diego, California, announced a $198 million
settlement with 144 claimants. In mid July, the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles announced a $660 million settlement with 508
claimants, following a November, 2006 settlement with 86 claimants
for an additional $114 million. Five prominent Catholic
dioceses in the United States have filed for bankruptcy since 2004,
facing (and, perhaps, seeking to avoid) enormous liability for tort
damages caused by clergy sexual abuse. By December, 2007, all five
dioceses have emerged from bankruptcy. There is a burgeoning
law review literature examining many different dimensions of the
situation. However, no article, thus far, has focused on the
labor and employment ramifications of the crisis. In this
article, I study the five diocesan bankruptcy cases. I also
discuss the status of labor and employment relations with the
Church as employer, in light of secular case law, canon law, and
Church teaching. I then present an overview of labor and
employment relations consequences of diocesan bankruptcy,
including, paradoxically, the possible resurgence of unionization
and collective bargaining by, inter alia, school teachers in
primary and secondary Catholic schools.