R.I. OWNERS PERSONALLY LIABLE:

The Rhode Island Workers Compensation Court has ruled that the owners of The Station nightclub can be held personally liable for their failure to obtain required workers’ compensation coverage. The ruling means that the brothers’ personal assets can be tapped to pay the more than $1 million fine levied against their company, Derco LLC, for not having the insurance in place when their nightclub burned, killing 100 people including four employees. That fine is under appeal and Jeff Pine, the lawyer for the owners, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, vowed that the ruling on personal liability would be appealed as well. The issue of personal liability came up because on July 2 the state enacted an amendment to its statute on limited liability corporations, under which Derco is licensed. The amendment said that owners and managers of limited liability companies could be personally responsible for fines and penalties. The Derderians maintained that the new amendment was meant to establish personal liability and since it was not retroactive, they could not be held personally liable for the fine imposed before July 2. But the state won with its contention that this was not a change in the law but simply a clarification.