Napa Valley Wine Train Settles Lawsuit Alleging Racism Against Black Book Club

A lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against the upscale Napa Valley Wine Train by a group of African-American women has been settled, according to the group's lawyer.

The group of 11 women was conducting their monthly book club aboard the Wine Train last August, when they were asked to leave for "laughing and talking too loud," according to members of the group. The women were escorted off the train and provided alternate transportation back to Oakland. Following the incident, the CEO of the company publicly apologized, and offered the women refunds, neither of which the group members accepted. Instead they filed an $11 million dollar lawsuit, led by civil rights lawyer Waukeen McCoy. The details of the settlement are confidential, but McCoy told Bay City News reports that the women were "very satisfied."

In the meantime, the company that owns the Wine Train was sold last fall, which representatives say was in the works "for months" and that the "timing of the sale is in no way related to the recent incident regarding the ladies book club."