the Bernera cafe/dog/legal aid saga - wtf?

[AuntieBiotics]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ced71ny99y5o

American woman living in Bernera is suing the local community run cafe because it would not admit her "emotional support" dog. She is being supported by the Ethnic Minorities Law Centre because Americans are ethnic minorities, and is being funded by Legal Aid. She wants £10k, which would shut them down.

I mean. What the actual fuck. Move to a tiny island with 250 people on it, claim you're being ostracised and harrassed and try to solve that by suing a charity? That'll sort it. And LEGAL FUCKING AID???

Where is the proof they are trans? They are clearly awful but I can see no source for this. I don't like claiming a woman is trans just because of looks : what is the source?

That is indeed what the EHRC guidance says (that you don't need to prove status at the door) but that doesn't mean a court would accept it as the law as you say.

As people need to show that they have a blue badge to use disabled parking spaces, or a Nimbus card to have adjustments at many venues. I don't think it all unreasonable to require evidence that a dog (or a cat or capybara or whatever) is a trained assistance dog and not just a pet. You don't need to say what your disability is, just that the animal is appropriately trained.

The EHRC guidance says an assistance dog will behave well and do its job but that is after the event. It's obvious a guide dog is a guide dog (and I've seen hearing dogs which are obvious too) but an ESA is just another term for a pet.

If she can trace her Scottish ancestry back to the 400s, why is she entitled to legal aid on the basis of being an ethnic minority

@AuntieBiotics
Typical American behaviour
Blustering totally entitled
Whilst playing a very weird form of the race card too........

Every day's a school day, I didn't know they were two places. BernerAY is between Harris and North Uist. BernerA is off the west coast of Lewis and is joined to Lewis by a bridge.

Sally Kellerman was her adopted mum though, her biological mum was Kellerman's sister.

I don't think the photos prove anything about trans.

Also - how is she legally allowed just to move here if her parents are American?

This!

Her bio father was Scottish iirc. They lived in Edinburgh while she was a child prior to her father's passing and her subsequent adoption by her aunt. It's possible she holds UK as well as US citizenship.

An entitled twit moves to a remote part of Scotland and tries to stomp all over the locals. 😡 Have donated!

So by that reckoning how is she still claiming to be an ethnic minority!

No, Berneray, which is off North Uist. Very similar community. Should have been clearer! I don't know much about this woman, but I do know about Fish because he is more local to me.

Oh, that explains it then. Why should she get ethnic minority funding though?

I agree with this 100%. Two things can be true - this woman can be an awful person AND the cafe can be breaching their responsibilities under the law. The fact they are a charity, and they are in a remote part of the country doesn’t mean they don’t have to follow the law. If anything, I’d say those two things make this case more important as it is more likely to be these kinds of settings that decide they can do what they like based on their opinion of the person.

There is a lot of rumour and wild speculation about the woman and the dog, but nobody has shown any evidence that I’ve seen which corroborates that. For a case to be brought to court, you first need a lawyer to take it on. The Law Centre who has raised this action on behalf of the woman must have been at least a little bit sure there was a case to be heard of she would have been turned away. They are a charity funded organisation and even with Legal Aid, wouldn’t take a case that has no chance of winning. This leads me to believe she has some evidence to show she has been discriminated against. In order for the court to accept the case, it has to be shown to have some merit. The fact two organisations have apparently spent thousands in legal fees would suggest it’s not as straightforward as some would like to suggest.

The reporting of the case, how this awful American woman is attacking the poor wee Scottish community cafe is not accidental. So many sections of the media are painting this as the kind of frivolous litigation we see in the US, people in it for the money for “pain and suffering”. That doesn’t exist here. Our system doesn’t allow that.

No matter what the outcome, even if it is proven this cafe discriminates against disabled people, they will continue to have support from the wider public. This will only make it harder for disabled people in future. But sure, let’s all go ahead and vilify this woman because she is really horrible and deserves it.

@HarpieDuJour has this just right, she expected to be welcomed with open arms but small communities take their time to get to know people, now she's probably alienated a bloody good percentage of the 250 people who live there.
It's sad to see one person whose so entitled that they're wrecking a community, worse still, they're so deluded about themselves they think they're the victim

Slightly off topic but you do realise you can be Scottish, and also ethnic minority ??!! Jeez 🤦🏻‍♀️

Because a white Scot in Scotland is not an ethnic minority.

That's a question for EMLC.

I suppose technically as an American she is undoubtedly a "minority" in Bernera, and Race being a protected characteristic also encompasses Nationality, but whether supporting US citizens in Scotland is keeping within the spirit of the relevant legislation is a fair enough question.

If she meets the criterion for Legal Aid then she meets them. 😬

Didn't they originally take the case against the wrong party? A different charity? That suggests the legal team didn't do so much careful checking

This confused me too!

My friend's assistance dog alerts her before she has an epileptic fit allowing her to get somewhere safe. It's not just deaf and blind people who have genuine assistance dogs.

They did, they initially tried to sue the Bernera Community Development Trust. It cost the trust £7k in legal fees.

That is an example of a dog which performs a specific function, to help people with a specific disability. Nobody is going to object to your friend's dog - or shouldn't - and doing so would absolutely discriminate against her.

But an "emotional support dog" which has not undergone any special training and is just there to be there, not to do specific tasks is different. It's an important distinction.

I’ve been watching this. It’s he café is a not for profit run by volunteers. They should shut it down, so it ceases to exist. Then re-open after the legal action is cancelled because it can’t sue an entity that doesn’t exist. I’d happily give them a donation at that point.

She says she wants to be friends. She must be deranged if she thinks this litigation will forge friendships. You can’t just impose yourself on a community and expect them to bend to your expectations of how you’d like to live. She should focus her energy on finding a new home elsewhere.