The women forced off a Napa Valley wine train for 'laughing while black' have filed a lawsuit

By Fusion Staff  |  October 2, 2015 | 8:51pm
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Nearly a dozen women were removed from a Napa Valley winery tour train back in August for the crime of “laughing while black,” as one of the women put it. Now, it appears as if they might have the last laugh.

The 11 women filed a discrimination lawsuit against Napa Valley Wine Train Inc. on Thursday, ABC News reports, citing racial discrimination and defamation. They are seeking $11 million in damages.


The lawsuit claims that the group—a book club comprised of mostly black women, the oldest of whom is 85—was unfairly targeted by the train’s staff and other, mostly white passengers. After a warning that they were too loud, a employee forced the women to make an early exit at St. Helena, where they were greeted by police officers.

One of the women described the experience as “humiliating,” per ABC News. Another, who was born under Jim Crow, likened it to the segregation she endured as a child.

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