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Eddie Lampert suffered a setback in federal court this week when a judge effectively ruled that some of his claims against the bankrupt estate of Sears Holdings Corp. have so little priority that they are likely worth a fraction of what he’s demanding.

The Sears store culling isn’t over. The struggling retailer will shutter 26 more of its large-format Sears and Kmart stores in late October, it announced on its website. Any of the locations with auto centers will close those divisions in late August, it said.

The fight over the deal that bought Sears Holdings Corp. out of bankruptcy shows no sign of cooling off.

The bankrupt estate of Sears Holdings Corp. sued Eddie Lampert and his hedge fund ESL Investments Inc., claiming they wrongly transferred $2 billion of company assets beyond the reach of creditors in the years leading up to the retailer’s bankruptcy.

A bankruptcy judge on Feb. 7 approved a $5.2 billion plan by Sears’ chairman and biggest shareholder to keep the iconic business going.

Eddie Lampert’s winning bid to salvage Sears Holdings Corp. valued the bankrupt retailer at $5.2 billion, according to a statement.

Eddie Lampert won a bankruptcy auction for Sears with a plan that will keep the rtailer in business and seek to save tens of thousands of jobs, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.

Eddie Lampert’s ESL Investments submitted an improved offer of more than $5 billion in an attempt to keep Sears Holdings Corp. in business.