I love the site but I'm convinced 80% of these stories are fake or highly embellished.
A friend of mine is an animator and a whole team of his was employed working on an educational cartoon. Two weeks before the close of the project, the client said "God told me in a dream not to do this project anymore." The client ended up not paying for any of the months of work already completed on the project and the team ended up sacked by the studio.
On the East Coast, being paid 6 months after completion of a project or not at all is almost the rule.