Java Object.equals(java.lang.Object) checks an operator enum

In this code fragment equals is used to check whether an operator for comparing attributes is the like operator.

final Object valueModified;
if (compareOperator.equals(BaseObjectAttributeCompareOperator.like) && attribute.isString() && addWildcards) {
    final String valueString = ((String) value).replace(" ", "%") + "%";
    valueModified = valueString;
}
else {
    valueModified = value;
}