Kroger is challenging a ruling granting unemployment benefits to striking workers in West Virginia, contending it did not lock workers out before the walkout began.
Some 3,300 members of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio started striking Oct. 13 over health benefits.
More than 17-hundred West Virginia workers have filed claims for unemployment benefits.
Under state law, workers generally aren't eligible for unemployment benefits during a labor dispute. One exception is when an employer shuts down its operation to force compensation cuts.
Kroger announced on Oct. 12 that it would close 44 stores affected by the strike, including 37 in West Virginia.
The state Bureau of Employment's three-member Unemployment Compensation Board of Review ruled that Kroger had locked out the workers to force cuts, making them eligible for weekly unemployment checks of up to $350.
Kroger argues that the stores were closed only to customers.
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