A transgender van driver has launched a discrimination claim against the courier firm that employed her as an independent contractor.

According to BBC News, the case is thought to be the first to test LGBT+ rights and discrimination in the gig economy.

Hayley Stanley claims she was discriminated against on the basis of her gender reassignment. She is backed by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain and has filed a claim with the employment tribunal against courier company Gnewt Cargo and its parent company Menzies Distribution.

London-based Gnewt Cargo, said it had ended its relationship with Hayley after she deliberately damaged a roller door. Hayley said the damage was accidental, however she was dismissed without warning or a chance to appeal.

Hayley worked for Gnewt from May 2014 until January, loading parcels onto her van and delivering them across central London. She is disputing her classification as an independent contractor, arguing that she was either a "worker" or "employee" and so was entitled to the rights and benefits they receive. She said that she faced over three years of systematic bullying and discrimination.

She repeatedly tried to raise her concerns with Gnewt management but was ignored, including an occasion when a manager smirked at her when she was recounting the abuse she suffered at the hands of her colleagues. She also complained of other problems such as having to remove boxes from her bay before she could start work.

Hayley is now bringing a discrimination claim for bullying and harassment, based on her gender reassignment. However, in order to bring about the complaint, she has to establish that she was a "worker" or an "employee", and not an independent contractor running her own courier business.

“These companies in the ‘gig economy’ have been given carte blanche to do whatever they want, while people like me get no protections,” Hayley Stanley said. “We can be dismissed at any time without being given a reason and when faced with bullying the companies simply ignore our complaints. I hope with this case I can finally get some justice and that not only Gnewt, but all companies in the gig economy, start cleaning up their act.”

IWGB General Secretary Jason Moyer-Lee, also commented, “Employment rights are not just about wage issues they are also about dignity and humane treatment. The sort of transphobic bullying and harassment that Hayley was subjected to is just one example of the many human costs of companies bogusly classing their workers as independent contractors. Gnewt cargo is not the only culprit here. If we want employment laws to mean anything, the government needs to actively enforce them.”

In a statement Gnewt Cargo told the BBC: "We ended the relationship with Ms Stanley Hayley after an incident, captured on CCTV, in which she purposefully damaged the main roller shutter door of our premises by ramming it with a loaded pallet truck. The decision to terminate her contract was purely due to this incident. Any other self-employed contractor would have been treated in the same way."