#LaughingWhileBlack fracas prompts diversity training for Napa wine train
A Napa Valley Wine Train executive issued an apology on Tuesday to the Sisters on the Reading Edge book club, after reports that 10 of the 11 club members riding the train over the weekend had been kicked off for laughing and talking too loud went viral online.听
The group members say they were singled out because they are black.
The company鈥檚 chief executive officer Anthony "Tony" Giaccio issued an apology Tuesday saying the company was "100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue." Mr. Giaccio pledged to offer additional diversity听training听for employees. He also asked for their apologies for their "many mistakes and failures."
The incident created a social media storm, coalescing around the Twitter hashtag #LaughingWhileBlack.
Napa Valley Wine Train spokeswoman Kira Devitt听that the company 鈥渞eceived 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.鈥�
鈥淭hey need to look at their own policies. I feel like we as a group were听made to bear the consequences of their not having policy on seating their customers,鈥� Lisa Johnson, an author from Antioch, who has organized the group's annual Napa day trips for the past 17 years,听 Sunday afternoon. "They need to give sensitivity training to their staff immediately. We want a public apology for how they treated us and for the public humiliation, which is unacceptable for anybody.鈥�
However, Ms. Devitt, said that removal for disturbing other passengers is 鈥渘ot an uncommon occurrence."
鈥淚f guests are being severely disruptive, that鈥檚 when we discuss whether they should be removed,鈥� said Devitt. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 make that judgment unless we receive a complaint from the people around them.鈥�
According to Slate, for threatening to remove her party 鈥� which she described as being made up of 鈥渁ll Latino individuals,鈥� the majority of whom were local University of California, Berkeley graduates 鈥� from the train after a noise complaint made against them in April.
听This report contains material from the Associated Press and Reuters.
