Wal-Mart Employment Advisory Panel Is Set Up

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which faces several discrimination lawsuits, said it established an advisory panel to develop equal employment opportunity and diversity initiatives.

Wal-Mart appointed two outside experts to the panel: Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit and the first African American president of the American Bar Assn., and Vilma Martinez, a civil rights activist and attorney who specializes in employment discrimination.

Separately, Michigan Atty. Gen. Mike Cox said Wal-Mart Stores had agreed to a $1.5-million fine to settle claimed violations of Michigan's item-pricing law.