The directors of Superquinn have claimed the joint receivers of the company have not been properly appointed.
Lawyers for the directors told the High Court this morning that they are issuing proceedings to have the appointment set aside, and they will also be seeking an injunction to stop the receivers taking any action.
The application will be mentioned before the High Court on Monday when a date for a full hearing will be set.
The court was also told that one of the directors of Superquinn is claiming he did not give his consent to the presentation of a petition seeking court protection for the company.
Lawyers for Simon Cantrell claimed that even though his name is on the documentation, he did not agree to it. The court was told that three other people who were in the room would say that he did consent.
The General Secretary of Mandate, John Douglas, asked for permission to address the court. He said the 2,500 workers and their families were afraid that as these legal proceedings went on their jobs would be lost.
Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan said the position of employees in an examinership application was very important.
She said the employees could consult their solicitor over the weekend as to whether they wanted to be separately represented at the examinership hearing and could make an application to be represented on Monday afternoon.
A number of Superquinn staff members attended today's hearing.
Outside the court, David Reid, a security manager the Blanchardstown store, said they were very concerned that the longer the legal proceedings went on, the more danger there was that the sale of Superquinn to Musgraves could be jeopardised and the company could fold.
The Musgrave chain has said it will do its best to assist companies experiencing losses as a result of the receivership.
Musgrave plans to establish a scheme giving suppliers access to the retail group's supply network to sell their goods. The scheme will prioritise small Irish distressed companies.
Details will be on their website from Monday.
It is understood that Musgrave currently has total turnover of €4.4 billion, of which €2.9 billion is accounted for by Irish suppliers.
There has been speculation that Musgrave had offered to pay in excess of €200m for the supermarket chain.
