GREENSBORO, N.C.-- A federal court ruling is putting important Triad jobs at risk. 

• A Triad company is fighting a case centered around veteran-owned small businesses
• The company received a ruling on its appeal filed in federal claims court
• In the optical division, there are 70 people who are blind who could be affected by this ruling

Industries for the Blind, IFB Solutions, in Winston-Salem says the decision may cost them millions in revenue and upend some of their workers' lives. The company creates glasses, textiles, military equipment, mattresses and more.

"We are extremely disappointed by the ruling that was received,” said IFB Solutions COO Dan Kelly who is totally blind.

"This place means a ton to me,” Kelly said. “There are nearly 500 stories of people who are blind who have found employment because of IFB Solutions, and I am one of those."

Kelly says 75 percent of people working at IFB Solutions on the production line are legally blind.

"People who are blind face a 70 percent unemployment rate,” he said. “So we know if they lose their jobs, two out of three of them aren't going back to work anywhere else."

This is why Kelly and his coworkers are fighting a case centered around whether veteran-owned small businesses should receive priority for contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs, over companies like IFB.

"We work to make eye glasses for 250,000 veterans every single year,” Kelly said.

This week, the company received a ruling on its appeal filed in federal claims court. It upheld a lower court decision to rule in favor of veteran-owned small businesses.

"This place is a not-for-profit that employs 500 people who are blind and have visual impairments as well as 42 veterans does not qualify under that statute,” Kelly said.

In the optical division, there are 70 people who are blind who could be affected by this ruling. Kelly says they won't stop fighting.

"We're going to do what it takes to protect jobs for people who are blind, even if it means taking this all the way to the Supreme Court,” he said.