A group of 11 women signed up to enjoy a train ride through Napa this past weekend and were kicked off the Napa Valley Wine Train for laughing and talking too loud. After being asked to quiet down three times (which they did), the women were escorted off the train at the next stop where police officers awaited them.
The women took to social media to share their story and news outlets in the Bay Area picked it up. In an interview with the SF chronicle Lisa Johnson told the newspaper:
“It was humiliating. I’m really offended to be quite honest. I felt like it was a racist attack on us. I feel like we were being singled out.”
Group of Black women kicked off wine train in Napa Valley for laughing too loudly. https://t.co/69vbZaMayp pic.twitter.com/EpMW3qOJne
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) August 23, 2015
In a statement Sunday, Napa Valley Wine Train spokeswoman Kira Devitt said the company “received complaints from several parties in the same car and after three attempts from staff, requesting that the group keep the noise to an acceptable level, they were removed from the train and offered transportation back to the station in Napa.”
The company posted its own take on the incident on its Facebook page but it has since been taken down.
“The Napa Valley Wine Train does not enjoy removing guests from our trains, but takes these things very seriously in order to ensure the enjoyment and safety of all of our guests,” Devitt said, adding that about once a month guests need to be removed from the train.
The company reimbursed the women, provided them with free pictures and a van back to their destination.
