The executive director of the U.S.S. Battleship North Carolina is being accused of illegally recording conversations, falsifying timesheets, and retaliating against his assistant director Chris Vargo, according to a new lawsuit.
The Battleship North Carolina has been moored in the Cape Fear River across from downtown Wilmington since 1961. Originally slated for scrapping by the U.S. Navy, the ship was preserved thanks to the 1960 “Save Our Ship” campaign, which successfully relocated it to Wilmington. It now operates as a 7-day-a-week interactive museum under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Chris Vargo, a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, spent 12 years working for the Battleship before his termination in January. He names the Battleship Commission, Executive Director Jay Martin, and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in new lawsuit. Vargo is seeking more than $25,000 in compensatory damages, reinstatement of his former position, and the removal of Martin as executive director.
The 18-page lawsuit claims that Vargo was fired on January 24 for reporting Martin’s alleged misconduct and asserts violations of the federal Whistleblower Protection Act.
According to the complaint, Vargo says Martin unlawfully planted a recording device in a conference room to capture conversations between Vargo and contractors as it related to the Battleship’s “Living with Water” Project, which aimed to address tidal flooding in the parking lot, in violation of state and federal wiretapping laws. Martin sought to make Vargo a scapegoat for project delays and budget overruns, the suit contends, even though Vargo did not have the authority to prevent them.
“On several occasions in the summer of 2024, Martin reported to Vargo that he was working 60 to 70 hours per week and instructed that Vargo enter his time accordingly,” reads the suit. “Yet during these weeks, Martin was not-on site at the Battleship, and no one working at the Battleship knew where he was or what he was doing.”
At the time Martin was a professor at Central Michigan University teaching nearly full-time, with the lawsuit alleging Martin wasn’t even in Wilmington when claiming overtime.
Attorney Jonathan Marx of Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman, PLLC, who represents Vargo, stated in a press release that individuals should be able to voice concerns without fear of retaliation.
“Mr. Vargo did the right thing by speaking up about what he witnessed at the Battleship. His termination threatens to chill other employees from speaking up if they see something wrong, and it raises questions about the Battleship Commission’s commitment to compliance, integrity, and accountability,” said Marx.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Battleship Commission, which hired Martin in 2024, intentionally sought out non-military leadership for the Battleship despite the job posting requiring it.
“On information and belief, certain Commission members, most notably vice-chairman Marcia Morgan, were determined to lessen (if not purge) military influence from the Battleship’s management,” the suit reads. “…Morgan believed, correctly, that former senior military officers were likely to push back on the Commission’s ideas when they were
misguided.”
The suit was filed in the New Hanover County Superior Court on April 1, 2025.
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