Companies Trying to Deal With Discrimination Face Backlash

Companies trying to rectify a legacy of discrimination are finding that some tactics are backfiring and sparking new grievances. For example, The Wing, a women's shared-office space and networking club, has drawn such ire. Its no-men-allowed membership policy for collaboration spaces in trendy New York neighborhoods is designed to attract like-minded women professionals who want to encourage and invest in one another. In March, the New York City Human Rights Commission launched an investigation into the Wing's practices, which include workshops on political organization and panels reserved for members featuring celebrities and U.S. legislators. The inquiry is one of the latest examples of how female-only initiatives and other diversity efforts are drawing objections from those who feel left out or challenge the idea that people in historically underrepresented groups need targeted resources to help them accelerate in their careers and are raising concerns that the programs unfairly exclude other people, reports the Wall Street Journal .