The labour court finds the dismissal of a worker, who evidently took a sniff of cocaine during a lunch break on the company's premises, to be warranted.
Closed circuit television footage showing an employee of a cable company jumping into a car with “white substance” - believed to be cocaine - and the driver of the vehicle “snorting” the substance became the subject of a judicial review before the labour court.
Durban-based company Aberdale Cables turned to the court to overturn the decision of an arbitrator that the employee should continue working for the company. The company’s decision to fire its employee, only identified as Mervin in the judgment, was overturned on arbitration, but the labour court now ruled his dismissal was fair.
While Mervin tested positive for the drug, he claimed that he had used it days prior while not at work. The cable company has a zero-tolerance policy for testing positive for drugs while at work.
Mervin was found guilty of consuming and dealing cocaine on the company premises, leading to his dismissal after testing positive for the substance. The company relied on the video surveillance, which showed him climbing into a vehicle at the gate and handing a cellphone and white substance, later accepted to be cocaine, to the driver, who snorted it.
