1. In the complaint, you allege that Mrs. D'Erario was forced in August 2006 to resign from her position as St. John's business manager/bookkeeper. In reality, however, no one at St. John's or the Diocese ever sought or requested Mrs. D'Erario's resignation. Mrs. D'Erario decided on her own to resign and she also chose to publish her letter of resignation in St. John's church bulletin. A copy of that bulletin is enclosed and, as you will note, it does not suggest in any way that she was forced to resign. To the contrary, Mrs. D'Erario closes her letter of resignation to the pastor of St. John's, Father McGrath, by writing "I wish you and the parishioners of St. John's Church every good fortune."

2. In the complaint, you allege that St. John's and the Diocese retaliated against Mrs. D'Erario because she (and Father Madden) hired a private investigator who subsequently reported Jude Fay's wrongdoing to the Darien Police Department. In reality, however, the Diocese, through its counsel, already had contacted the United States Attorney's Office in Connecticut to report its concerns regarding Jude Fay prior to the private investigator's meeting with the Darien Police Department. Neither St. John's nor the Diocese had any reason or motive to retaliate against Mrs. D'Erario for her alleged activities as a "whistleblower." [1] To the contrary, as has been thoroughly documented by the United States Attorney's Office, the FBI and the independent report issued by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP ("Deloitte"), St. John's and the Diocese cooperated fully in the investigation and subsequent prosecution of Jude Fay.

[1] As a legal matter, Mrs. D'Erario may not be defined as a "whistleblower" under Connecticut law because she reported her allegations of wrongdoing to a private investigator, rather than to a "public body", as required by the applicable statute. See Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-51m.

3. In the complaint, you allege that Father McGrath maliciously spread false rumors about Mrs. D'Erario having an affair with Father Madden, repeatedly harassed and attempted to intimidate Mrs. D'Erario, and refused to renew her employment contract. In reality, however, Father McGrath never spread any rumors regarding Mrs. D'Erario, nor did he harass or attempt to intimidate her. Although Mrs. D'Erario only briefly worked under Father McGrath's supervision before she decided to resign, at no time did Father McGrath ever criticize her work performance or express an intent to replace her. There was no need for a written renewal of Mrs. D'Erario's employment contract because her contract expressly provided that "This contract is automatically renewed for the next fiscal year if not cancelled or modified by either party in writing." Accordingly, Mrs. D'Erario's contract already automatically had been renewed for fiscal year 2007 (July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007), which Mrs. D'Erario acknowledged in her resignation letter. A copy of her contract is enclosed for your review.

4. In the complaint, you imply that the Diocese did not act expeditiously to remove Jude Fay and that Mrs. D'Erario was instrumental to the investigation. Neither allegation is accurate. The first time that Diocesan officials received a report concerning alleged financial misconduct by Jude Fay occurred on April 27, 2006 and that report occurred at a meeting between Father Madden and Bishop Lori. Mrs. D'Erario did not attend that meeting. In fact, within a day or two of that meeting, while Diocesan officials were commencing their investigation of St. John's finances, Mrs. D'Erario left for a vacation in the Bahamas and did not return to work for approximately one week. Although her absence made it more difficult for the Diocese to investigate the financial records of St. John's, the Diocese proceeded with its investigation and promptly removed Jude Fay from having any control over parish accounts and parish funds. As a result of the investigation, Bishop Lori directed Jude Fay to return to Connecticut from Florida and, on May 9th, Diocesan officials began meeting with Jude Fay and seeking explanations with respect to multiple financial issues. Approximately one week later, on May 17, 2006, at Bishop Lori's request, Jude Fay resigned as the pastor of St. John's. The chronology of the actions taken by the Diocese to investigate these matters, safeguard parish funds and obtain Jude Fay's resignation are set forth in detail in Deloitte's report.