[1] She lodged a complaint at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), alleging that she had been unfairly dismissed in terms of section 185 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995.
However, before hearing any evidence on the merits of that complaint, the CCMA ruled in December 2006 that it lacked jurisdiction to arbitrate an unfair dismissal dispute in the sex work industry, which had been criminalised by the Sexual Offences Act, 1957.
Cheadle held that the Labour Relations Act cannot be read to grant sex workers an enforceable statutory right to a fair dismissal.
The Labour Relations Act must be read to preserve and implement those protections, as recently held by the Constitutional Court in Chirwa v Transnet.
Davis reflected unfavourably on the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, commenting of the United States Supreme Court that "much of their jurisprudence can be described as being significantly incongruent with our Constitution’s commitment to freedom, equality and dignity and its concern to protect the vulnerable, exploited and powerless"; instead, Davis aligned himself with "the more enlightened minority opinion" of Justice Stephen Breyer, who had argued that employers should not be allowed to use the illegal immigration status of employees to relieve themselves of their responsibilities under labour law.
Were Kylie to prove that she had been unfairly dismissed, the illegal nature of her trade might well affect the determination of proper remedies, but:only those rights which are necessary for the implementation of the provisions of the [Labour Relations] Act are to be removed from the enjoyment of appellant.