"I could’ve easily gotten paid from Robin outside of Upwork. Heck, he was physically in front of me." - I don't think that would have been relevant. He could ha

"I could’ve easily gotten paid from Robin outside of Upwork. Heck, he was physically in front of me." - I don't think that would have been relevant. He could have still committed credit card or check fraud. The main issue here seems to be that Upwork isn't meeting its end of the bargain in exchange for the cut that they take - given all sides agree that the worked hours weren't fraudulent, Upwork should do what they would have done had time been tracked in the tool, and they should be providing protection to the worker and pursuing collections from Robin themselves (and eating the loss until they can recover the unpaid balance). The human rights complaint in the article is rather weird though - Upwork isn't forcing him to work any extra - he could quit the platform today if he likes.