Black women members of a book club in California, who were told to get off a Napa Valley train company for laughing loud, has reached a settlement with the winery company. The group sued the said company for the mistreatment, accusing them of racial discrimination.
According to New York Times, members of "The Sistahs on the Reading Edge book club" said, the lawsuit against the train touring Napa Valley wineries has been settled and the value of the settlement will not be disclosed publicly. "The matter was resolved on terms acceptable to all parties last week," said by Lisa Johnson, of Antioch, one of the members of the club.
The club members, 11 women in the group with 10 black and one white, filed a lawsuit against the Napa Valley Wine Train, for being racist after they were kicked off from the train for laughing and talking loudly in August. The group confronted the train manager, however they were met by police and were escorted.
The story received national attention and angers social media users, in which a Twitter hashtag "#LaughingWhileBlack" became trending. The lawsuit sought $11m for damages from the company. Guardian reported, the women clarified, they sued the company not because they want to get compensation money. Instead, they want to raise awareness of the racism in the country.
The women are also not allowed to discuss the case on media as one of the terms of the confidential agreement. Waukeen McCoy, the representing lawyer for the group said they were "very happy" that the case has been settled,
Though in the lawsuit they claimed, they had lost their jobs as a result of the fallout and they were greatly criticized on social media, Johnson said they were still relieve as the issue came to closure, Hello Beautiful reported. "I think it's something we can put behind us," she added.
Johnson also said that the book club was looking forward to returning to normal. She said the group meets on the fourth Sunday of every month and plans a yearly visit to Napa Valley.
