The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a suit against Kmart Corp., alleging the retailer violated federal law by subjecting a 73-year-old female employee in Honolulu to age harassment, retaliation and forcing her out of her job.

The EEOC charged in its suit that the pharmacy manager of a Kmart on Nimitz Highway subjected the woman to age-based insults, such as telling her she was “too old to work,” that she “should retire,” and other discriminatory conduct.
Although Kmart received notice of the alleged harassment, the company failed to take appropriate action to investigate and correct the hostile workplace, as the law requires, the EEOC charge in its suit. The employee eventually was forced to resign, the EEOC said.
A spokeswoman for Kmart parent Sears Holding Corp. said the company does not comment on pending litigation.