Wal-Mart Will Battle Janitors

Bentonville, Ark., Although Wal-Mart ended up on the right side of a racketeering charge Friday, a U.S. judge decided that a lawsuit brought against the retailer by former janitors can proceed.

The ruling means that Wal-Mart will have to answer to the undocumented workers’ charges that they were not paid fair wages or overtime compensation, and that store managers locked the doors on overnight cleaning crews, holding them prisoner all night.

The racketeering charge Wal-Mart avoided stemmed from a massive class-action suit filed on behalf of the workers, claiming that the retailer had conspired to hire illegal aliens on a national basis.