Two former employees and shareholders of VLT manufacturer Spielo are suing their former employer, saying they didn't receive their fair share of the company, which sold for $200 million in 2003.

Peter Dauphinee and Yves Doucet were fired in 2002 by Jon Manship, who used to own Spielo.

Dauphinee and Doucet were given $5.68 for each Spielo share they owned, which netted them each about $250,000.

The value of the shares increased dramatically in the year after Dauphinee and Doucet were fired, said their lawyer, George MacDonald.

"A year or so later, the shares of Spielo were purchased by [GTECH Corp.] and they paid about $100 per share," said MacDonald.

At that price, Dauphinee and Doucet would have netted more than $4 million each.

MacDonald said they'll try to prove in court that Manship had been secretly trying to sell the company and fired his clients in order to keep most of the profit.

Manship denied these allegations.

Gordon Petrie, Manship's lawyer, said his client didn't meet the people who bought Spielo until six months after he got rid of his partners.

"It seemed to our clients that this was an attempt to get a piece of that amount of money without any legal basis," said Petrie.

Manship said he fired Dauphinee and Doucet because of poor performance.

A trial date has tentatively been set for November.