Yes they could get out of their Enron stock. They could sell their shares, purchased with their own contributions, any damn time they wanted. What they couldn't sell, were the Company matching contributions which were given in Enron stock. They could sell those if they were over 50. There were 20 investment option plans to choose from.
So, the bottom line is...they could have sold their own shares. What they couldn't sell were the shares given to them by the Corporation for which their actual cost was zero. Now, they can argue that they should be allowed the basis of that stock when it was awarded. I'd go along with that but it won't be anywhere near the amount that they are claiming to have lost. What they lost was nearly all in unrealized gains just like lots and lots of people in the market over the last few years.
According to these people, if my company gives me stock, and the stock tanks, I should be able to be paid what the value of the stock was at its peak. Pretty amazing.