Black women sue wine train for discrimination

A few of the women, tears in their eyes, spoke at a news conference Thursday, shortly after filing a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Napa Valley Wine Train.

The Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club were escorted off a train in Napa Valley, Calif., during the wine-themed excursion.

The group of mostly black women who were booted off the popular Napa Valley Wine Train for being too loud filed a $11 million lawsuit Thursday against the Wine Train alleging racial discrimination.

Johnson said the only thing the book club members were guilty of was occasionally laughing loudly together. They booked tickets for the ride in December and made a reservation in May. During the ejection, she walked the women through six train cars before exiting onto a dirt lot at the St. Helena station, where police waited with them until a taxi van arrived.

“The lawsuit highlights that blacks are still being treated differently in America”, he said.

Anthony Gaccio, company’s chief executive, apologized to the women in the days following the incident. The maitre’d also told police that the book club members “were unruly and aggressive”, according to court documents.

Public backlash against the company began after Johnson posted photographs and comments on Facebook describing the moment she and 10 other women were kicked off the train and told by employees they were laughing too loud.

The incident occurred on 22 August this year and caused widespread outrage on social media networks, the hashtag #laughingwhileblack was used to condemn the incident.

But Johnson has said the group will hold firm in its lawsuit until race is acknowledged as a factor.

The women said that a train manager approached them and asked them to lower their voices.

The Napa Valley Wine Train offers food and wine to passengers as they visit Napa County wineries in updated Pullman cars.

Speaking to The Guardian, Johnson said: “We feel it is really important for us to speak up”.

‘I’d like to think it wasn’t a racially motivated act, but given the fact that other, non-black guests were behaving in the same way and not removed, I can only conclude that it was discrimination’. “After the investigation has been conducted, we will have the appropriate response to the complaint that has been filed seeking $11 million in damages”, the statement said, adding the company was sold on September 15 to a new owner who will “continue to improve and build upon the Napa Valley Wine Train experience”.

‘We accept full responsibility for our failures and for the chain of events that led to this regrettable treatment of our guests’.