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An employee who refused to receive a flu vaccination and raised objections about breathing his own "expired breath" when wearing a mask has lost his unfair dismissal claim.

The Bethanie Aged Care electrician told the Fair Work Commission that when he was required to get a flu vaccine in 2020, he only complied because he felt he had no choice. Then, when he went to his doctor for a flu shot last year, he claimed he had a panic attack and walked out.

After researching vaccines, he sent his employer a "notice of conditional acceptance" that said he would "decline the offer for flu vaccination product or offer to wear a mask" unless 19 conditions were "met in entirety".

His conditions required the employer to provide evidence that: it had legal rights to "force, coerce or use undue influence" to demand he wear a mask or be vaccinated; wearing a mask "carries no risk of bacterial infection by breathing in one's own expired breath"; and the vaccine had been tested for more than five years...