SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A group
of mostly black women filed a racial discrimination lawsuit Thursday after they
were removed from a train that tours Napa Valley wineries, saying it was
humiliating to be thrown off a rail car when loud and inebriated white passengers
were allowed to stay.
The
11 women sued Napa Valley Wine Train Inc., claiming they were singled out
because of race and seeking $11 million in damages. The company said in a
statement that it takes allegations of discrimination very seriously and has
hired a former FBI agent to investigate.
The
women said many of them were part of a book club that meets regularly and had
gathered on the train to discuss a romance novel. Before the train left the
station in Napa, a train employee asked them to quiet down because they were
offending other passengers, they said.
The
same employee admonished them a second time before telling them that police
officers would be waiting for them when the train reached St. Helena, the suit
says. They were escorted through several cars as other passengers stared and
then off the train and into a dirt lot where police were waiting, according to
the suit.
"That
was the most humiliating experience that I have ever had in my entire
life," Lisa Johnson, 47, said with tears in her eyes, appearing with some
of the other women at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. "This is
2015, and this just cannot happen again."
The
wine train issued an apology after the women were ejected, promising additional
training for employees on cultural diversity and sensitivity and free passes
for a future trip.
The lawsuit also claims the
women were defamed by a company statement saying they had been verbally and
physically abusive.
Their
removal led to discussion online under the hashtag, #laughingwhileblack. The
women wore black buttons with the hashtag at Thursday's news conference.
Katherine
Neal, 85, the oldest woman in the group, said she was reminded of when she was
about 12 and a store clerk asked her to eat her ice cream outside while white families
ate inside.
"I
took this case because it's an egregious case," said the women's attorney,
Waukeen McCoy. "This lawsuit highlights that blacks are still being
treated differently in America."
McCoy
said he engaged in settlement talks with the company, but it did not make an
offer.
The
Napa Valley Wine Train offers food and wine to passengers as they visit Napa
County wineries in updated Pullman cars.
A
spokesman for the company, Sam Singer, has said individuals or groups are asked
to get off the wine train once a month on average for various reasons. By SUDHIN THANAWALA
