The reason I was hired was my director’s strong push to keep me. Should I let her continue to neglect her responsibilities just because I owe her some kind of thanks? Should my loyalty be with my company in general or to the person that hired me?

The loyalty of the employee should be to the organization in spite of the fact whether he owes some kind of favor to the manager or the director.  It is important to understand that it is not considered ethical to neglect duties while at the workplace whether it is an employee or a director. And since the director is not fulfilling her responsibilities and duties, if employees are aware of this behavior and don't report her, they will also be involved in the unethical behavior. Moreover, if they continue to bear with the current attitude of the director, the employees will face significant issues in the future. Although gratitude is important but it doesn't mean that unethical behavior shouldn't be reported (Cremer & Tenbrunsel, 2012).

1. Even after one of my co-workers spoke to our director about her wasteful spending, she continued to do so. Should my co-worker have gone above her to let her boss know what was going on?

          If the director continued to waste her time and neglect her responsibilities, rather than going to her boss all by himself, the co-worker should have gained the support of other permanent employees first. It is important to understand that even though the director is neglecting her duties, it is possible that the boss might not believe in a single employee. It is true that the co-worker should report to the authority above the director but he should gain the support of other employees as it will help in strengthening the statement. The collective statement about the director would be better than an individual report and the chances of higher authority not believing in the report would decrease as well.

2.  As an employee, do I have any rights in this situation? If so, what would they be?

          Yes, as an employee, there are some rights for them. For instance, the employee has to report any unethical behavior to the person who has the authority to take action against it. In this case, the director is the one who has been neglecting her responsibilities for a long time now and due to it, the organization has been suffering. Therefore, the employee has the right to report the behavior to the authority who is above her and can effectively stop her from wasting her time and completing her tasks.

          As explained above, every employee within the organization is supposed to be loyal only to the organization. If there is someone who is violating ethics and the authorities are unaware of it, it should be reported to the authority. However, it is important to have proper evidence. It is important for the employee to collect evidence and have the support of other employees as well before reporting it to the higher authority (Kvalnes, 2019).

3. What would you have done in this situation? Why?

In such a situation, I would collect evidence about the fact that the director is neglecting her responsibilities and gain the support of my colleagues. I would have chosen to visit the director and inform her about the situation in a professional manner. And if she wouldn't have corrected her behavior, then I would have reported her to the higher authority. However, since my co-worker has already complained about her behavior and she hasn't improved herself, I would persuade my colleagues to collectively report about her behavior. With proper evidence and support from my colleagues, not only the higher authority would believe in our statement but also take the necessary actions against the director.

References of Ethics and Director

Cremer, D. D., & Tenbrunsel, A. E. (2012). Behavioral business ethics: Shaping an emerging field. Routledge.

Kvalnes, Ø. (2019). Moral reasoning at work: Rethinking ethics in organizations. Springer.