CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lawsuit on behalf of teachers allegedly misled into investing their retirement savings in low-interest annuities has been filed in Marshall County.

"I want to follow the money. I want to see who made the big bucks on the deal," lawyer Harry Bell said of the suit against the parent company of the Variable Life Insurance Co.

"The people responsible for taking advantage of the teachers, and creating this whole mess should step up to the plate and pay," he said.

The suit by Bell and Charleston lawyer Rusty Webb contends that representatives of VALIC misled thousands of participants in the 401(k)-style Teachers Defined Contribution plan to invest heavily or entirely in their low-interest rate annuities in the early 1990s. VALIC has since been acquired by AIG Retirement.

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a law allowing any of the 19,000 teachers and service personnel stuck with severely underfunded TDC plans the option to transfer into the Teachers Retirement System, a defined benefits plan.

Bell he is optimistic the court will certify the case as a class-action suit.

"I have had hundreds, if not thousands, of calls and contacts with people every day," he said. "I've signing confirmation letters that they're going to go with us."

Bell said he doesn't believe the transfer of nearly 15,000 TDC participants into TRS last month will affect the lawsuit.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lawsuit on behalf of teachers allegedly misled into investing their retirement savings in low-interest annuities has been filed in Marshall County.

"I want to follow the money. I want to see who made the big bucks on the deal," lawyer Harry Bell said of the suit against the parent company of the Variable Life Insurance Co.

"The people responsible for taking advantage of the teachers, and creating this whole mess should step up to the plate and pay," he said.

The suit by Bell and Charleston lawyer Rusty Webb contends that representatives of VALIC misled thousands of participants in the 401(k)-style Teachers Defined Contribution plan to invest heavily or entirely in their low-interest rate annuities in the early 1990s. VALIC has since been acquired by AIG Retirement.

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a law allowing any of the 19,000 teachers and service personnel stuck with severely underfunded TDC plans the option to transfer into the Teachers Retirement System, a defined benefits plan.

Bell he is optimistic the court will certify the case as a class-action suit.

"I have had hundreds, if not thousands, of calls and contacts with people every day," he said. "I've signing confirmation letters that they're going to go with us."

Bell said he doesn't believe the transfer of nearly 15,000 TDC participants into TRS last month will affect the lawsuit.

Passage of the transfer election reduced actual financial damages for most individuals down to thousands of dollars - as opposed to tens of thousands or more had the election failed.

"Damages may have gone down from five figures to four figures," Webb said Wednesday. "For teachers and service professionals, that's still a lot of money."

Anne Lambright, executive director of the Consolidated Public Retirement Board, said the board received its copy of the suit. Attorneys had submitted a notice of intent to file suit back in May.

"I can say we received the lawsuit today, and our lawyers are looking at it," she said.

CPRB was added as a party to the suit on the grounds that the agency had a fiduciary responsibility to assure that TDC participants were given sufficient information about their investment options under the plan.

"The amended complaint alleges that CPRB breeched its fiduciary duty to teachers by allowing VALIC representatives to run amok around the state, without providing any educational component," Webb said.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.