A North East woman who quit her fast food job after refusing to wear a face mask has had unfair dismissal proceedings thrown out.
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McDonald's directed its employees to wear a face mask on July 18 due to COVID-19 concerns, but Stephanie Johnston said she would rather resign.
Ms Johnston, the Fair Work Commission recently heard, "believed the virus was not a real threat, there were no cases near Benalla, that the mask is ridiculous and that it won't do anything".
Ms Johnston had worked part-time for the fast food giant since September last year.
She tendered her letter of resignation on July 22 and thanked her managers for employing her at the Benalla site.
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She didn't give any notice.
But Ms Johnston then lodged an application with the commission against the company behind the franchise, which runs several McDonald's restaurants in the North East.
She said she had a mental health condition which exempted her from wearing the face covering, but the company denied she had mentioned it.
The company also denied that she had offered to provide a medical certificate, and said she wouldn't have been forced to wear a mask or resign if they were aware of any mental health issue.
Commissioner Leyla Yilmaz noted that Ms Johnston had lodged her unfair dismissal application late - outside of the required three-week period - while a company representative said she had resigned, rather than being sacked.
The former employee had to show there were exceptional circumstances in the case, but the commissioner found there weren't any.
"Accordingly, the application for an unfair dismissal remedy must be dismissed," she said.
