THE organisation that runs a community cafe in the Outer Hebrides that is at the heart of a fierce legal row with an American woman after her dog was barred has raised more than £177,000 during an “incredibly challenging period”.
The Bernera Community Association, which runs a volunteer-run community cafe on the island, had warned it faced financial ruin after Claire Kellerman launched legal action against them.
The 62-year-old, who moved to Lewis from California in 2023, is looking for £10,000 in a legal claim after she was refused permission to bring her dog, which she alleges is an assistance animal she trained to help her with an unspecified disability, into the cafe last year.
Initially, Kellerman – the adoptive daughter of Sally Kellerman, who played Hot Lips Houlihan in the 70s American war comedy film MASH – launched a court challenge against the Bernera Development Trust, which ran up legal costs of more than £7000.
However, Kellerman’s lawyers, the Glasgow-based Ethnic Minorities Law Centre, then admitted in court that the action was directed against the wrong organisation. Although the trust was awarded legal expenses by the sheriff court after it was wrongly named, Kellerman is protected from paying costs under the rules of the civil legal aid scheme.
Her lawyers have now brought a claim against the community association, the voluntary group that runs the cafe.
Since the story came to light last month, the case has been covered by news outlets across the UK and has generated a whirlwind of public outcry over the proceedings.
However, despite the Bernera Community Association warning it faced bankruptcy due to the mounting legal costs following Kellerman’s court challenge, the community group said they have since received more than 11,000 donations to help keep them afloat.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the group said they had been “completely overwhelmed” by the “kindness and generosity” shown to them over the last few weeks.
They went on to confirm that they had raised more than £177,000 in vital funds to keep the community cafe and hall open.
“Messages of support have arrived from people throughout the country and from right around the world, and we have received donations from people who simply want to see our community centre remain open,” the statement read.
“We cannot put into words how much this means to us. Running a community centre comes with significant ongoing costs, quite apart from the legal expenses we are currently facing. Every donation, every message and every word of encouragement has helped remind us just how important this facility is to the community and how many people want to see it continue.
“To everyone who has donated, shared our appeal and offered words of encouragement or simply taken the time to think of us - thank you.”
The statement concluded with the Association saying they are “immensely grateful” for the generosity shown to them.
It added: “We still do not know what lies ahead, and we remain unable to discuss court proceedings.
“But whatever happens, we will never forget the support that has been shown to Bernera Community Association and to our community centre during this incredibly challenging period.”
It comes after unearthed court filings in the US, first reported by The Stornoway Gazette, showed that Kellerman previously had a court case against her former employers thrown out.
A court ruling from Hawaii in 2020 has similarities to the current situation in Bernera, including a 2019 attempt to sue that had been dismissed “for reasons including mootness and asserting claims against the wrong entity”.
Four co-complainants and Kellerman were given a chance to amend the “deficiencies” in their initial legal action against the Hoku Nui Maui farm.
In the filings, the judge noted that “the complaint was ‘noticeably short’ on factual allegations, and plaintiffs needed to do more than simply make unordained assertions of misconduct”.
Kellerman, along with her colleagues', renewed attempt to sue was ultimately unsuccessful, with part of the judge’s reasoning being that they had been “relying on a disability discrimination statute when none of the plaintiffs claim to be disabled”.
The judge also found that they had failed to amend their initial allegations “in a plausible fashion”, including by failing to explain how their employers had supposedly breached discrimination legislation, after Kellerman alleged that she was fired for “asking for a smoke-free workplace”.
A co-complaint alleged that she had been sacked for “voicing concerns regarding untrained dogs”.
Central to the legal challenge against the Bernera Community Association is Kellerman’s dog, Lady Tarkina Snow Fire, which she claims is her assistance animal for a disability that she declined to specify when approached by The National, although she has acknowledged she has had it since 2015.
“I'm not going to tell you much,” she said. “It's personal and there's a point at which I don't want a gynaecological exam in the media.
“It's almost at the point like, could everyone please exit my colon? Like I'm just done.”
She explained that she has given her lawyers a US doctor's letter outlining her disability, along with a UK doctor's letter that proves that she suffers with one.
In a letter sent to 13 Stornoway businesses that Kellerman alleges have also barred her dog, and seen by The National, her lawyers said: “We act on behalf of the above-named client, who is a disabled person within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 and who relies upon an assistance dog for disability-related support and day-to-day functioning.
“Our client’s assistance dog is trained and recognised for the purpose of mitigating the effects of their disability and accompanies them in public settings as a reasonable and necessary aid.”
The case is due to be heard in February next year.
You can click here to find the Bernera Community Association fundraiser.
