Man who was called for a meeting to be fired brings in someone unexpected to support him

Losing a job can be stressful, but one man found a unique way to handle the tough situation. Josh Thompson, a copywriter at an Auckland advertising agency, knew he was likely to be laid off when he received an ominous email from his employer asking him to attend a meeting "to discuss some matters in regards to his role." In line with New Zealand law, HR offered him the option to bring a "support person" to the meeting, Good News Network reported.

Thompson was well aware that he’d likely be fired, given the recent layoffs at his company. According to New Zealand law, the employees should be granted an option to bring in a support person or support animal for such meetings. But Thompson decided to do things differently and instead of getting a family member or an animal to the meeting, he spent $200 and asked a clown to join him. 

"Joe" the clown came prepared for the meeting despite the "gig" being different from his usual ones. He brought in balloon animals and reacted mindfully. The employee shared, "He nodded his head along when I received the bad news as if he was also receiving the bad news." "Professionalism at its finest, really," he said, per BBC. Joseph Brosnahan, the 26-year-old Auckland actor and freelance videographer who called himself 'Joe' the clown, also shared his side of the story.

For this "gig," he said that his employer, Amazing Kids Parties, had told him that there was a "very unusual request." "They said 'Feel free to say no to this because it's pretty out there but there's this guy who's apparently got word that he's going to be fired and he's allowed to bring a support person with him," Brosnahan told New Zealand Herald. "And as a joke, he'd like to bring in a clown. Would you be up for doing that?' And I just thought that sounded so hilarious I couldn't resist."

Brosnahan said there was no pre-planning, and the employers remained serious throughout the meeting. "They weren't playing around with it and meanwhile, I was just sitting there in a clown costume," Brosnahan explained. "I just kind of went with the flow and did some of my balloon twisting and a few animals for them." He added that he made sure not to do anything offensive during the meeting as it was a serious situation. 

Thompson has since started a new job with another advertising company. When he was asked what led him to bring in a clown, he said, "There's not much to it really. I thought it'd be funny, so I did it. They took it well. It was me getting fired, not them, so how badly can they take it." Though Thompson and Brosnahan have not been in touch since the meeting, the employee recommended hiring a clown as support for any such redundancy meetings. "If you've got family, friends, stepmums, stepdads, stepkids, bring them by all means," he said. "But if there's a clown available, especially Joe, I'd definitely recommend it."

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.