Hi Laura:
I believe the your boss is correct, but before two things:
1- A relationship OneToMany is the same thing that ManyToOne.
2- A relationship is bidirectional or not if you put in the code the correct method to return anohter bean and the <crm-field> in the descriptor,
in the relationship role in the descriptor
you should write the source and destiny beans,
always
What is my opinion ? put <cascade-delete /> in the bean with multiplicity One