Summary: A wine train ejected a mostly black group of women for being too loud. Now they’re suing for discrimination.
It sounded like the perfect day: eleven friends, one raunchy romance novel, and copious amounts of wine . . . all winding their way through Napa Valley on a train.
Then a few spoiled sports had to ruin the fun.
The Napa Valley Wine Train says it ejected the all-female, eleven-member book club for being too loud and disturbing other riders.
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After one of the passengers complained they were “laughing and talking too loud,” employees on the train asked the women to quiet down. When the book club continued to cause a ruckus, the staff asked them to simmer down once again.
Then they rolled into the next stop in St. Helena, where they were greeted by police officers. The police escorted the women through six cars with all the passengers staring at them.
The eleven women–ten black and one white–claim they have suffered extreme humiliation from the ordeal.
Despite the fact the women were offered refunds and free tickets, they have sued for $11 million, or $1 million each. Their legal claims include discrimination, libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and defamation.
The Napa Valley Wine Train CEO has publicly apologized for the incident and says it will provide more training for its employees on cultural diversity and sensitivity.
The company claims people are asked at least once a month to exit the train for various reasons, presumably related to the fact that the train is all about drinking wine.
Two employees involved in the incident have been fired. Apparently they posted on Facebook that the women were asked to leave due to “verbal and physical abuse towards other guests and staff.” These Facebook posts have been deleted for “inaccuracies.”
The women say they are seeking such a high amount because they want to make sure the company never lets something like this happen again.
Photo: nbcbayarea.com