SACRAMENTO, California — It's been more than three months since the Brazilian Center in Midtown was asked to relocate away from CLARA studios, its home for eight years.
Now, the cultural center is filing a lawsuit against the operating company that manages the CLARA space after negotiations broke down this summer.
"We wanted to negotiate. We didn’t want to fight," said Brazilian Center CEO Saara Burga, who secured the legal assistance of attorney Paul Nathan Phillips to file a retaliation lawsuit.
"They’re taking the position that they can evict us in a summary proceeding, and we have to go and they keep everything," Phillips said.
The lawsuit alleges discrimination and retaliation.
Furthermore, Burga said she spent $80,000 of her own money investing in improvements in the building.
"This board over there is only thinking about money, and they’re not thinking about the good of the community, the good of this organization that’s done a lot for Sacramento, and we’ll see them in court," Phillips said.
The CLARA board told ABC10 in June that the move is part of its strategic vision to serve a wider range of community groups. It's a plan that calls for the Brazilian Center to leave the space so other groups can request to use it for a few weeks at a time.
The board said it hoped the center could relocate and continue to serve the community from another location. But Burga and her attorney said they won't go without a fight.
"We wanted to be treated fair," Burga said.
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