It further ruled that Barloworld’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Policy is ‘irrational and violates the right to privacy in Section 14 of the Constitution’, to the extent that it prohibits office-based employees that do not work with or within an environment that has heavy, dangerous and similar equipment, from consuming cannabis in the privacy of their home.

The court found that Enever suffered unfair discrimination and that her dismissal was automatically unfair. According to court records, Enever was a category analyst at the time of her dismissal.

Enver signed an Employee Policy handbook in 2012 which specifically stated that the corporation may force employees to undergo medical exams following the Constitutional Court’s decision to decriminalise cannabis use for individuals in the privacy of their own homes.

The company sent out a memo to employees headlined ‘Cannabis is strictly prohibited in the workplace’ in 2018 which stated it would have ‘no bearing on their company policy’. However, in May 2012, Enever’s doctor prescribed her medication for pain and sleep due to severe anxiety, but she said she suffered side effects, and following the decriminalisation judgment, she began using cannabis which she says eventually helped her reduce her reliance on prescription medication.

Enever said she smoked a joint every night and on weekends, along with the daily use of cannabis-based products like cannabis oil.

In January 2020, four months before her dismissal, Enever had to undergo a medical test in order to regain biometric access to the workplace, which included a urine test. The test results came back positive for cannabis use and after follow-up tests also showed traces of cannabis, she was dismissed.

In her defence, Enever discussed the positives she has noticed from consuming cannabis, namely how she has less anxiety, better sleep, and is no longer reliant on side effect-causing medications. It was also accepted by her employer, according to the court documents, that during her time of testing, she was not impaired in the performance of her duties or suspected of being intoxicated.

Following her dismissal, Enever took her matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) but it did not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic and therefore she approached the Labour Court.