The following report is courtesy of Tracy Breton from Projo.com:

A court-appointed master has proposed a plan for distributing $176 million in settlement money to those who lost loved ones or suffered injuries in The Station nightclub fire. The plan of distribution devised by Duke University Law Prof. Francis E. McGovern would give everyone who sued a share of the money, including those who suffered mental trauma but never sought medical treatment for their injuries.

Under the plan, the survivors who were most badly burned and were hospitalized the longest will receive more money than several of the families who lost loved ones in the fire.

Although McGovern’s plan has not yet been submitted for court approval, victims of the fire have been meeting with their lawyers in recent days to review it. None of the victims has been given precise figures on what they might actually receive once attorneys’ fees and expenses are subtracted. Some have been told that they can expect to receive several hundred thousand dollars while others may get less than $20,000. Others are expected to receive more than $1 million.

The Providence Journal has obtained a copy of the proposed plan that is being circulated among the more than 300 plaintiffs in the 11 federal lawsuits brought in connection with The Station fire. The fire was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. One hundred people died in the blaze on Feb. 20, 2003; more than 200 others suffered injuries. The first started when fireworks set off inside the club by rock band GREAT WHITE ignited highly flammable foam that had been installed as soundproofing.

Read more here.