HR manager and vice-president of cannabis company sexually assaulted two employees on multiple occasions
An Ontario human resources manager who sexually assaulted two of his employees multiple times is headed to the sex offender registry after an appeal court recently reversed a sentencing judge's decision to spare him from registration.
Anthony Corallo was the HR manager and vice president of a cannabis company. He used his position of authority to sexually assault two subordinates — D.P. and A.L. — on multiple occasions at work, according to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
He is said to have assaulted D.P. seven times over a nine-month period and A.L. three times, including once outside the workplace under the pretext of helping her find an apartment, and afterward threatened to kill her if she told anyone, said the court. He pleaded guilty to all charges.
Impact on employees
The impact of the sexual assaults on both women was severe. D.P., who had once loved her job and her colleagues, came to dread going to work, not knowing what Corallo would do to her on any given day, said the court citing comments from the sentencing judge.
“She enjoyed going to work prior to these incidents. She enjoyed spending time with her work family. D.P. feels ashamed, embarrassed, angry, scared, and sad. She was hospitalized for mental health caused by this incident. It goes without saying that the incidents also had a tremendous impact on D.P. financially.”
A.L. reported feeling “fearful and… very intimidated.”
Authority of HR leader
The sentencing judge’s decision repeatedly referred to Corallo abusing his position of authority in committing these offences:
- “Due to his position, vis-à-vis the complainants, his moral culpability is very high.”
- “It is aggravating that the offender abused a position of trust or authority in relation to the victim.”
- “…. the shocking breach of a position of authority by the accused, and his moral blameworthiness is inherent in the commission of these offences.”
- “The fact that his wife and daughters do not believe that he disrespects women does not take away from the fact that Mr. Corallo did disrespect these women who worked under him. As an HR personnel, he should have been the person to support the complaints.”
“There's no reason, legally, why the employer can't impose discipline for off-duty conduct - at the end of the day, off-duty conduct is fair game for an employer to investigate if it jeopardizes the safety of a co-worker.”
So said Joseph Oppenheim, a labour and employment lawyer at Carbert Waite in Calgary in 2023, after that city fired a transit worker for sexually assaulting a co-worker.
Sex offender registry
Corallo received 16 months' jail on each count of sexual assault, served concurrently, along with a 30-day concurrent sentence for uttering threats and a two-year probation period. None of that was challenged on appeal.
However, a dispute arose over whether Corallo should also be placed on the Sex Offender Information Registration Act registry (SOIRA) — a requirement that obliges convicted sex offenders to report annually to police and provide personal information.
The sentencing judge declined to impose it, pointing to Corallo's age of 62, his lack of any prior criminal record, the fact the victims were known to him rather than strangers, the absence of other predatory behaviour, and his engagement in counselling. There was, she found, no evidence he posed an elevated risk of reoffending.
The Crown appealed and in the June 8 decision, Justice Robin Bellows of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found the sentencing judge had fundamentally misread how the registry scheme works. "Although the sentencing judge properly identified the requirements of the new legislative scheme, she did not, in my view, apply them," she wrote.
Under the Criminal Code, registration is the default for convicted sex offenders in certain circumstances — a court "shall make an order" unless the offender establishes that registration would either have no connection to helping police investigate sexual crimes, or that its impact would be "grossly disproportionate to the public interest."
The sentencing judge reversed that. By finding there was "no evidence before me that he is an increased risk of reoffending" and that "saying he was convicted of a sexual offence is not sufficient" to warrant registration, she placed the onus on the Crown rather than the offender — an error Justice Bellows found compounded by the judge's own sentencing findings that Corallo's moral culpability was "very high" and that he had committed a "shocking breach of a position of authority."
Corallo's age, clean record, and rehabilitation efforts were factors to weigh, but not enough to clear the bar for an exemption.
As a result, Justice Bellows said the decision denying the SOIRA order was set aside, and a SOIRA order was made.
