Black women kicked off Napa wine tour train get apology from CEO after hashtag #LaughingWhileBlack goes viral [/SIZE
Five members of the Sistahs on the Reading Edge book club, all of Antioch, Calif. From left: Katherine Neal, Georgia Lewis, Lisa Renee Johnson, Allisa Carr and Sandra Jamerson stand together after they were booted off the Napa Valley Wine Train on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn't just sour grapes.
The 11 mostly black women who said they were discriminated against when they were booted off a California wine tour in toney Napa Valley got an apology Tuesday from the company's CEO, who said "we were 100 percent wrong."
Napa Valley Wine Train CEO Anthony Giaccio promised cultural diversity and sensitivity training for employees and offered up an entire train car — which seats up to 50 people — to the women for a free trip in the future.
This about face came four days after the women, who were part of the Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club, were escorted off the train Saturday during the wine-themed excursion.
Staff claimed the group was dumped mid-journey after fellow riders complained the women were being too loud, which prompted one of them to chronicle the incident on social media and give rise to the hashtag #LaughingWhileBlack.
The Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club were escorted off a train in Napa Valley, Calif., Saturday during the wine-themed excursion.
"The Napa Valley Wine Train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue," Giaccio said in a statement. "We accept full responsibility for our failures and for the chain of events that led to this regrettable treatment of our guests."
Giaccio said he personally reached out to Lisa Johnson, an Antioch, Calif., author who has organized the group's outings to wine country for the last 17 years.
She was less than accepting of the mea culpa.
"You can apologize, but you can't take away the experience we had," Johnson told the Oakland Tribune. "We were still marched down the aisle of the train car to waiting police officers. I'm still traumatized by the whole experience."
Napa Valley Wine Train staff called police in St. Helena Saturday to help handle the rowdy women.
Wine train spokesman Sam Singer said individuals or groups are asked to get off the wine train once a month for various reasons.
Train staff called police in St. Helena Saturday to help handle the rowdy women, but they were already gone by the time the tour pulled in to the town.
But Johnson, in a Facebook post that went viral, slammed the company for the way it was all handled.
The group was marched through six train cars in humiliating fashion, Johnson claimed.
“The Napa Valley Wine Train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue,” Napa Valley Wine Train CEO Anthony Giaccio said Tuesday.
"We were insensitive when we asked you to depart our train by marching you down the aisle past all the other passengers," Giaccio added.
"While that was the safest route for disembarking, it showed a lack of sensitivity on our part that I did not fully conceive of until you explained the humiliation of the experience and how it impacted you and your fellow Book Club members."
With News Wire Services
Follow on Twitter @jmolinet
jmolinet@nydailynews.com
Five members of the Sistahs on the Reading Edge book club, all of Antioch, Calif. From left: Katherine Neal, Georgia Lewis, Lisa Renee Johnson, Allisa Carr and Sandra Jamerson stand together after they were booted off the Napa Valley Wine Train on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn't just sour grapes.
The 11 mostly black women who said they were discriminated against when they were booted off a California wine tour in toney Napa Valley got an apology Tuesday from the company's CEO, who said "we were 100 percent wrong."
Napa Valley Wine Train CEO Anthony Giaccio promised cultural diversity and sensitivity training for employees and offered up an entire train car — which seats up to 50 people — to the women for a free trip in the future.
This about face came four days after the women, who were part of the Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club, were escorted off the train Saturday during the wine-themed excursion.
Staff claimed the group was dumped mid-journey after fellow riders complained the women were being too loud, which prompted one of them to chronicle the incident on social media and give rise to the hashtag #LaughingWhileBlack.
The Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club were escorted off a train in Napa Valley, Calif., Saturday during the wine-themed excursion.
"The Napa Valley Wine Train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue," Giaccio said in a statement. "We accept full responsibility for our failures and for the chain of events that led to this regrettable treatment of our guests."
Giaccio said he personally reached out to Lisa Johnson, an Antioch, Calif., author who has organized the group's outings to wine country for the last 17 years.
She was less than accepting of the mea culpa.
"You can apologize, but you can't take away the experience we had," Johnson told the Oakland Tribune. "We were still marched down the aisle of the train car to waiting police officers. I'm still traumatized by the whole experience."
Napa Valley Wine Train staff called police in St. Helena Saturday to help handle the rowdy women.
Wine train spokesman Sam Singer said individuals or groups are asked to get off the wine train once a month for various reasons.
Train staff called police in St. Helena Saturday to help handle the rowdy women, but they were already gone by the time the tour pulled in to the town.
But Johnson, in a Facebook post that went viral, slammed the company for the way it was all handled.
The group was marched through six train cars in humiliating fashion, Johnson claimed.
“The Napa Valley Wine Train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue,” Napa Valley Wine Train CEO Anthony Giaccio said Tuesday.
"We were insensitive when we asked you to depart our train by marching you down the aisle past all the other passengers," Giaccio added.
"While that was the safest route for disembarking, it showed a lack of sensitivity on our part that I did not fully conceive of until you explained the humiliation of the experience and how it impacted you and your fellow Book Club members."
With News Wire Services
Follow on Twitter @jmolinet
jmolinet@nydailynews.com
