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An employee has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission that he didn't deserve to be dismissed because his numerous Facebook friend requests and unsolicited messages to a young female colleague were actually from his seven-year-old son.

The Virgin Airlines pit crew employee was sacked in December last year for serious misconduct, in the form of repeatedly sending the colleague unwelcome messages, and deliberately making "trivial, false or unwarranted" complaints about team members' conduct.

In unfair dismissal proceedings, the Commission heard that the employee hadn't been friends with the female colleague; they didn't usually work the same shifts, and had never spoken face-to-face...