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It's very difficult to know the merits of either side without reading the contract.
We should also keep in mind that we are only getting her side of the story, and even with her slant it doesn't sound all that impressive.
No one "coerced" her into any contracts whatsoever. If she was in debt, that is her responsibility and no one else's. If she didn't understand the contracts, that is her team's fault.
She likely did have the legal right to publish a story collection before she signed, but clearly it's a sign of bad faith, since she was almost certainly in negotiations with them during that time. If your neighbor offers to sell you a car with 80,000 miles on it, and puts another 10,000 miles on it the week before you hand over the check, are you going to thank them for their diligent efforts in making sure the car rides well?
Not to mention that her plan going forward was to release a bunch of older work, presumably without mentioning it to her publisher. All of this should have been discussed during the initial negotiations.
She also doesn't seem to understand that it's her agent's job to try and smooth these things over. It's not "mind control" for a publisher to try and deal with an agent when these problems come up.
I agree that it's a "cautionary tale," but I don't think she learned the real lesson, namely.... Understand the contract before you sign.
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