From October 27, 2005, through August 16, 2007, the Calabasas, California-based company provided its matching contribution as company stock, which has lost three-fourths of its value since January amid the subprime lending fallout. The stock closed Wednesday at $16.62.

The suit, filed by the law firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, claims that the employees relied on information supplied by the company, CEO Angelo Mozilo and benefits committee members in making their decision to contribute to the plan, according to the law firm’s statement.

The suit seeks the return of money lost, the creation of “a constructive trust on any amount by which the defendants were unjustly enriched” and the appointment of an independent fiduciary to help manage the company’s stock.

A statement from the company said, “Countrywide has not yet seen this lawsuit, and does not generally comment on specific points of pending litigation. From what we can discern from the news release put out by the public relations firm for plaintiffs’ counsel, we do not believe the case has merit, and we will defend it vigorously. Countrywide believe[s] our 401(k) program is properly structured and provides competitive benefits to employee participants."

Steve Berman, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, was unavailable for comment.

Countrywide’s 401(k) plan had $1.1 billion in assets as of December 31, according to an SEC filing.

Filed by Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.