The Women Kicked off a Napa Wine Train for 'Offensive Laughter' Settle Lawsuit

They were kicked off a train in the middle of nowhere—ten black women and one white woman, all over the age of 50. Why? For laughing too much. The women say they were humiliated and are pretty sure about one thing: They were discriminated against for "laughing while being black."

But now the 11 women from the Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club are having the last laugh. They have settled out of court with the Napa Valley Wine Train in California after suing the company for $11 million for racial discrimination.

Visitors to Napa can take the Napa Valley Wine Train in lieu of driving so they are able to safely enjoy copious amounts of vino as they wend their way among the many wineries there. Despite its purported purpose—the train is pretty much a party bus on train tracks—the Napa Valley Wine Train expelled the women from the train outside of St. Helena last fall because employees said the women were taking part in "offensive laughter".

The Sistahs were not having it. They were certain that this was a case of racial discrimination and they sued the train company in order to raise awareness of racism, they said.

Now the 11 women have accepted an undisclosed sum in return for agreeing to withdraw their lawsuit. The terms of the settlement are confidential and, as is typical, the settlement does not include any formal statement of guilt on the part of the company.

Waukeen McCoy, the lawyer who represents the women, said his clients were "very happy" with this resolution. He said, "Filing a lawsuit promoted a lot of attention to these issues, obviously when there's a settlement in exchange for dismissal [they are no longer able to talk about it]."

Are the women sorry they didn't have their day in court? Lisa Renee Johnson, one of the book club members, said, "I don't think it would have made a difference to dance it out in the courtroom. The case has got a lot of attention without going to court. I still believe we can be change agents."

The Napa Valley Wine Train is now under new management.