Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 4-22-16 Edition

Breaking News
Book Club Ordered Off Napa Train Get $11 Million Settlement
Tira McDonald (left), one of the plaintiffs filing a racial discrimination lawsuit over their ejection from the Napa Valley Wine Train in August, speaks at a news conference. Also pictured (left to right) are Attorney Waukeen Q. McCoy and plaintiffs Linda Carlson, Lisa Johnson, Sandra Jamerson and Allisa Carr.
(Center) The women wait on the train (left) before being met by police (right). The Book Club was ordered off the train and met by police on August 22, 2015.
(Right) The Book Club members are shown here preparing for a great journey, which was rudely abrupted... resulting with an arrest.
A group of women who filed an $11 million racial discrimination complaint after being re- moved from a train during a wine tour have reached a settlement.
The 11-strong party, which included 10 African-Americans, was ordered off the Napa Valley vintage trip last August after other passen- gers allegedly complained they were being too loud.
They filed a lawsuit asking for $1m each after claiming they were humiliated and discriminated against by staff who told them several times to
lower their voices.
Their lawyer Tuesday revealed they have come
to an ‘amicable settlement’ six months after filing the lawsuit at the U.S. District Court in northern California.
Waukeen McCoy, who did not disclose the terms of the settlement, said: ‘We hope that other businesses learn from this case and implement diversity and sensitivity training for employees.’
Train company officials could not be immedi- ately reached for comment.
The women, who are members of a book club
called Sisters on the Reading Edge, boarded the train in Napa on August 22.
They said they were having a good time, laugh- ing and chatting with other passengers when they were approached by the train manager, who asked them to lower their voices.
The manager reportedly also returned a sec- ond time and warned the women that they would be removed from the train.
The women were finally escorted off the train when it reached St. Helena. They were met by po- lice from the Napa Valley Railroad.
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