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WJAR-TV

PROVIDENCE - The families of four nightclub employees killed in the 2003 West Warwick fire went to court Thursday morning to ask a judge to order the club's owners to pay death benefits and lost wages. State Workers' Compensation Court Judge Bruce Morin fined brothers Michael and Jeffrey Derderian over $1 million for failing to carry the workers' compensation insurance coverage when the club burned to the ground in a deadly fires two years ago. They've appealed that decision.

Attorney Jeff Pine represents Jeffrey Derderian in the case.

According to state law, if the Derderians had carried workers' compensation insurance, the families of the employees killed by the Feb. 20, 2003, blaze would have been eligible for $15,000 for burial and other expenses, plus a portion of the deceased's lost wages.

The families of Tracy King and Dina DeMaio are seeking benefits on behalf of dependents, according to The Providence Journal.

Petitions filed in the cases of employees Andrea and Steven Mancini are seeking death benefits.

The Station fire, sparked by a rock band's pyrotechnics, killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others.

In August, a Workers' Compensation Court judge found the Derderians personally liable for a $1.07 million fine against their company, Derco LLC, for failing to carry the required insurance.

The brothers have appealed, calling the fine excessive and arguing they don't have the money to pay it out.

The Derderians also face civil claims by fire victims' families and survivors of the blaze, and the state has charged them each with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter.