Albertsons

The lawsuit over a deal to combine the two largest U.S. supermarkets came just a day after it was blocked in both federal and Washington state courts.

U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued the ruling after holding a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon.

Oregon is one of eight states to join with the Federal Trade Commission in an effort to hold up the proposal.

Washington seeks to avoid the situation it found itself in a decade ago, when Albertsons bought the Safeway chain.

The Federal Trade Commission alleges that the $24.6 billion merger would eliminate competition and raise grocery prices for consumers.

A lawyer for supermarket chain Albertsons has told a federal judge that the company might have to lay off workers and close stores if its planned merger with Kroger isn’t allowed to proceed.

The Federal Trade Commission and 9 states want to stop the deal that would combine the country's two largest grocery store chains. The companies say they have to merge to compete with Walmart.

The Washington state Supreme Court has brushed aside the final remaining legal hurdle in the way of a $4 billion dividend by Albertsons to its shareholders ahead of a proposed merger with grocery rival Kroger.

The attorneys general of California, Illinois and the District of Columbia are suing Albertsons to stop the grocery chain from paying nearly $4 billion to its shareholders. Washington's attorney general filed a similar lawsuit in state court Tuesday.

Grocery store workers in the Puget Sound region came very close to going on strike in late 2013, but recent contract negotiations have gone more smoothly…