I really wonder what this world would be like if everyone who had a career, family, or life to risk over being a whistleblower took the safe, sure path and shut up and dealt with it.
Perspective! Freelancers are an army of one. How you spend your time will have a large impact on your success. No one likes to take it on the chin, but sometimes you have to step back, look at how hard the hit is, and decide if you really want to get in to a brawl over the matter.
Think of this as a judgement call. IMO, it shows either lack of preparedness or poor judgement on the part of the freelancer in this case. When you run your own business, the buck stops at you. In any given scenario, you must be willing to accept your portion of the responsibility. It has been my experience that the more responsibility someone is willing to accept, the better they are at getting things done. It's a pretty good indicator of success. Those who always look to push the burden of responsibility off on others will dwindle their time looking everyone but at themselves.
I'm not saying that the freelancer is 100% responsible here, but I am saying that it doesn't matter much. If your goal is to be successful, you can't be distracted by these stupid little hiccups. You have to get up, dust yourself off, and move on.
I really wonder what this world would be like if everyone who had a career, family, or life to risk over being a whistleblower took the safe, sure path and shut up and dealt with it.