US-born Claire Kellerman, the adopted daughter of late M*A*S*H actress Sally Kellerman, has launched legal action over being refused entry to a community café with her dog on Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides.
The case was initially brought against the Great Bernera Community Development Trust (GBCDT), despite the organisation having no connection with the café. The action is being funded through legal aid, meaning the legal costs are backed by public money.
The trust is understood to have incurred more than £7,000 defending itself before Kellerman’s legal representatives acknowledged that the wrong organisation had been named. The court action was subsequently amended to target the Bernera Community Association, which operates the café.
Kellerman claims she was discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010 after her dog was not allowed into the volunteer-run Bernera Community Café in Breaclete. It remains unclear whether the animal has been formally recognised as an assistance dog.
The case was called at Stornoway Sheriff Court earlier this month and is due to proceed with further legal argument. Kellerman is represented by the Glasgow-based Ethnic Minorities Law Centre.
The dispute has placed financial pressure on both community organisations. The Bernera Community Association has appealed for donations, warning that legal expenses are threatening its ability to maintain the local centre, which provides a café and other services for island residents.
The association said it was run largely by volunteers and that the centre served as an important hub for the small island community. Great Bernera, linked to the Isle of Lewis, has a population of about 250 people.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board said legal aid was granted after considering the statutory tests and stressed that funding a case did not mean it endorsed the claim. It said questions about the facts and conduct of the proceedings were matters for the court.
GBCDT, a separate charity involved in community development projects on the island, has said it was wrongly drawn into the dispute and left facing legal costs despite having no responsibility for the café.
