Island trust speaks of 'upsetting time' of woman and cafe dog ban case
The impact of a legal case raised against community groups in the Outer Hebrides is being sorely felt
An island charity has spoken of “a lonely, difficult and upsetting time” after being wrongly accused in a costly legal case raised by a woman after her dog was refused entry to a cafe .
Directors of Great Bernera Community Development Trust have spoken of their legal ordeal, which has cost them thousands of pounds, afer becoming embroiled in a civil case raised by resident Claire Kellerman after she was banned from taking her dog into a cafe on the island.
An error by Ms Kellerman’s representatives meant that the case was raised against the trust instead of the Bernera Community Association, which runs the tearoom.
Despite the trust pointing out the error, it was forced to mount a legal response and prepare full defences, with the financial strain almost pushing the community group to bankruptcy.
Members have now spoken of the “unjust position” they faced and the “shock” of being served a “long and vexatious” writ by legal representatives of Ms Kellerman, who claimed she had been discriminated against and that her pet was an assistance animal which should have been allowed on the cafe premises.
Ms Kellerman, whose aunt, and adoptive mother, was acress Sally Kellerman, who played the part of “Hot Lips Houlihan” in the 1970 film M*A*S*H, is originally from the US and relocated to Lewis around four years ago.
The trust’s board of directors, in a letter to The Stornoway Gazette, the sister paper of The Scotsman, said that despite being the wrong defender, it had to appoint lawyers to defend the writ. Although Ms Kellerman’s solicitor and the Scottish Legal Aid Board was informed that the trust was the wrong defender, proceedings conditioned.
The board said: “It was only a few days before defences needed to be submitted that the Pursuer's solicitor finally absolved the Trust. Leaving it so late meant the Trust had incurred significant legal costs.
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“For the Trust Board it was a lonely, difficult, upsetting and time-consuming period. We could not believe, having done nothing wrong, we could be attacked in this way.
“Further, the attack was fully funded by the Scottish Government and our tax money.”
The trust also thanked and praised The Stornoway Gazette for highlighting the case and described its support as “a real morale boost”.
Ms Kellerman is represented by the publicly-funded Ethnic Minorities Law Centre in Glasgow. The case continued for legal debate in December piling further costs upon the Bernera Community Association, which is fighting a £10,000 damages claim from Ms Kellerman.The association has now received tens of thousands of pounds in donations to support it defence following publicity surrounding the case.
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