Aaron Smith-Levin’s Superior Had to Protect Others from His Abuse
Aaron Smith-Levin’s former superior Andrea recounts how he shook up, antagonized or literally chased fellow staff—and how he rejected efforts to help him change.
TRANSCRIPT:
Aaron Smith-Levin is an individual who can be described as very antagonistic. He does not react well to challenging situations—he’s very reactive, he can be very reactive, and he has been described as “scary” by some people.
I did have an employee once who banged on my office door. I opened the door, he ran inside, he literally asked me to hide under my desk because Aaron was chasing him. I cooperated with my employee; I allowed them to hide under my desk. Aaron came in. I didn’t even say anything. I didn’t know what he was looking for but that did occur, yes.
I was present when Aaron physically assaulted another member of our Church and got into an altercation with him unnecessarily because of an argument, and it was illogical, and I’d never seen anything like it. Another instance—Aaron—I did not see this happen but I saw the imprint on the wall where Aaron threw somebody through a wall because he was upset with them.
And that’s very unfortunate. And I think that Aaron knew what he was struggling with. I think that Aaron knew that he was antagonistic and that this was how he was and maybe he couldn’t deal with it. But I had more issues with that particular person and more upset employees issuing complaints and filing complaints and telling me they couldn’t work with him than anybody I’ve ever had.
I would say, honestly, that I really cared about Aaron and I really wanted to help him, and I really tried to help him and I found it impossible. And he did not accept that help. He pushed himself away and he made it impossible to change or open his arms to any communication to receive that.
After Aaron left I felt a new sense of calmness in the workplace. And a lot of my employees felt calmer, were more comfortable talking to me and were much happier doing the duties that they were given without being concerned about being shaken up, antagonized or chased, literally.
