A group of women from a predominantly Black book club who were kicked off a Napa Valley Wine Train in California for allegedly being "too loud" are now suing the company for $11 million, reported the New York Daily News.
Lisa Johnson, the book club's founder, said that on Aug. 22, eight members of thet Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club and three of their friends were "paraded" through six cars and kicked off the wine train, ABC News noted.
In the court complaint, the book club members call the experience "degrading and surreal" and accuse the company of defamation, libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress for publishing an inaccurate social media post describing the women as being verbally and physically abusive to other passengers. The post was deleted from Facebook.
Two of the book club members were let got from their job as a direct result of the train incident, reported ABC News.
The court document alleges that "African-American adults are more likely to be shushed at, stared at, and kicked out of places where white people perceive that they do not fit."
The wine train incident went viral on social media with the trending hashtag #laughingwhileblack.
The Napa Valley Wine Train company was bought by new owners in September since the incident occurred, according to The Los Angeles Times. The new owners are listed in the complaint and are taking the allegations seriously, as they have hired an FBI agent to investigate the lawsuit's allegations.
