Some plates have holes for gallery plug plus the big hole for the cam plug which are all above the crank throwing oil everywhere.
^^This...
As far as I know, all the Lakewood plates have those holes, and they
will allow oil to be slung around and past those holes. And yes, if that happens, it will ruin a clutch plate within a fairly short time period. If Doug is sure that the oil is from the back of the engine, and he has a Lakewood plate, or similar plate with holes, then it would be wise to get it fixed as soon as possible. Although I'd certainly make sure that was where the source was from, because I hate pulling transmissions.
Edit to add that I have no idea why Lakewood put those holes there. You can't reach the plugs with the flywheel in place, and if the flywheel is off, there is nothing holding the plate on. Makes no sense to me.