EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP LEADER FINED $3,468 FOR CHILD LABOR LAW VIOLATIONS

In Aug. 2024, I wrote about Billy Bob Faulkingham breaking state law by bringing a kid out to haul with him. Then I filed a complaint with Maine Dept. of Labor.

The state rep from Winter Harbor is a lousy boat driver with a history of sinking boats (like his beloved F/V 51 above.)

A couple summers ago, I heard chatter from down on the shore that state Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham couldn’t find anyone to go out to haul his lobster traps with him, so he hired a neighbor’s 14-year-old kid to work as his sternman aboard a borrowed lobster boat. Which is a clear violation of child labor law. Not to mention, extremely risky, considering the last fella (the grown man pictured below) who worked for the Maine GOP House Leader was nearly killed when the state rep from Winter Harbor flipped and sank his lobster boat while filming waves breaking on Turtle Island Ledge for social media.

I’ve redacted the sternman’s photo and name because it’s not his fault that his captain, House Minority Leader Faulkingham, is a knucklehead.

If you’re new around here, I suggest reading these previous Crash Reports with all the deets: A Scientific Debunking of Billy Bob Faulkingham’s Fishy Tale of Rogue Wave, Angelic Rescue and The Christian God Punishes Maine GOP Leader for Breaking Child Labor Laws, Lying about Boat Wreck

That “accident” cost Faulkingham over a half-million bucks in repairs and lost earnings. And re-building the vessel (literally from the keel up) took almost two full years, so Faulkingham’s daddy occasionally lent his 47-year-old old son the F/V Grampy’s Bird to haul his gear. Since no adult would go out to haul with him, Faulkingham hired the 14-year-old to empty traps, fill bait bags and band lobsters. And the cheapskate pol only paid the kid a mere fifty bucks a day, far less than the standard rate for a sternman, thusly both endangering the life of a minor and ripping him off. So I made some inquires down on the shore and confirmed — from two extremely reliable sources — that the young teen laboring for the House Minority Leader of the Maine Legislature was indeed 14-years-old.

I reached out to the Department of Labor in Aug. 2024 with a tip about the underage worker and other possible violations. And never heard back. Below is my email explaining the situation.

I redacted the 14-year-old’s name because you don’t need to know it. Kid just wanted to make fifty bucks.

Unbeknownst to me, the DOL followed my tip and investigated. Then, last spring — the DOL fined the GOP leader $6,136.00. Faulkingham, of course, appealed, which kept the details of labor law violations secret. Spoiler alert: Last month, a hearing officer reduced Faulkingham’s fine by $2,668, so the dubbah now only has to pay $3,468. More on that in a sec.

Click the image above to see all recent labor law violations.

But first, cue the Faulkingham apologists defending their rotund leader, claiming kids have worked aboard Maine lobster boats for a century. For sure. But those kids — from age 8 upwards — are required to have a license as part of an apprenticeship, which Faulkingham’s stern-boy didn’t have and never applied for. Also, those apprenticeship and/or student licenses are for kids tending their own traps, not working for their neighbor, aboard the neighbor’s daddy’s boat because the neighbor’s boat sank while the neighbor was shooting vids for the socials.

To be clear, according to the investigator’s report, the youngster had zero experience lobstering and received just basic instructions on how to do the job.

I’m sure Faulkingham’s apologists will also claim the GOP Leader learned his lesson and will be sure to be extra-safe considering he had an illegal, non-licensed minor aboard. Well, those dummies probably haven’t spent much time on the water.

Photo of F/V 51 from 2023, just after Billy Bob flipped it and just before it sank.

As longtime readers know, I was a sternman on Matinicus, Maine’s most remote inhabited island, for two years in the early 1990s. (That’s the subject of my gritty memoir Tough Island, signed copies available here for $25 with free shipping.) Which was why I was concerned about Faulkingham having a newbie youngster doing the gig, ALONE, because all sorts of shit can go wrong.

I wasn’t too worried that Faulkingham would injure the 14-year-old kid while sinking his papa’s boat while screwing around the surf to get vid for Tik-Tok. Because (you’d hope) that’s not a mistake even a dolt like Faulkingham would make twice. Because, as you can see in a now-deleted Facebook post, his injured sternman posted “shouldn’t have happened” in the days after nearly being killed.

My concern was the 14-year-old newbie finding himself in a situation he shouldn’t be in. A sad and common reality for lobstering communities is that experienced captains can easily get tangled up in a mess of pot warp on deck, get dragged overboard and then die. I know, firsthand, how scary that sort of instantaneous disaster underway can be. You can listen, below from the Audible version of Tough Island to the terrifying story of when my first captain, Cap’n Donald, got tangled up in rope and was nearly killed.

Actual image of me and Cap’n Donald.

Back when Cap’n Donald almost perished, I was a young buck in my early 20s, buff and strong. And to be clear, when a fella gets hung up in pot warp and dragged aft, it happens real quick. In an instant, headed for the fishes. I credit my three years as a sailor in the Coast Guard for my ability to think quickly and prevent Cap’n Donald’s death.

Thing is, if Cap’n Faulkingham got tangled up and dragged overboard, the little kid wouldn’t have been able to do anything. His skipper — weighing over 300 pounds and boots heavy with ocean — would’ve sank like a rock and drowned. Which would be a loss to Faulkingham’s wife and kids, but also very traumatizing to the 14-year-old sternman suddenly faced with having to deal with a dead boss.

All that to say, working on a lobster boat is serious business.

Which brings us to the DOL’s findings. You can read the letter to Faulkingham and his legal team below, but the OG ruling had four violations of 26 MRS §772 “Hazardous Occupations” rules, plus four violations of 26 MRS §774 (7) “Record of work hours of minors” and four violations of 26 MRS §665 (1), regarding “records of pay statements” by the employer.

The total penalty: $6,136.00.

And as mentioned earlier, Faulkingham filed an appeal and retained Josh Tardy, a hotshot Bangor attorney who served as Republican House leader from 2006 to 2010, to represent him.

I’m not gonna spend too much time questioning the results of the appeal hearing, though gotta say Faulkingham’s defense of the violations was pretty lame. And I believe the hearing officer — who is a lawyer not a judge — screwed up.

The state showed up for the appeals hearing with all sorts of evidence.

Faulkingham, though, entered three pieces of evidence: a Facebook post about kids lobstering, a blank “Student” lobster application and a Bangor Daily News reprint of a Harpswell Anchor story about Chris McIntire, a lobsterman who died “unexpectedly” at the age of 32. Why? I dunno.

Also, as you can see (above) Faulkingham submitted “Exhibit 1: Social media children lobstering (8 pages).” However, the “posting was not authenticated and therefore not considered.”

You can read his defense (also above) in which many of the assertions appear to be out-right lies. For instance, in the “finding of fact,” it is claimed that Faulkingham’s boat is named F/V Grampy’s Bird. Not so. That’s Faulkingham’s old man’s vessel. The Minority Leader’s boat is called F/V 51.

Or the second so-called fact: “Appellant operates Grampy’s Bird either alone or with one or more Sternmen, who are usually independent subcontractors and not employees of the Appellant.” Again, not true. Faulkingham was borrowing his dad’s boat to go out to haul, accompanied by an unlicensed, inexperienced 14-year-old stern-boy.

Also, according to Faulkinham, the kid worked five hours a day. “Each day he was paid between $80 and $140 a day. The Appellant paid with paper checks. The checks did not have any information about total payments.”

This is also bogus. As I reported back in 2024, waterfront sources who spoke to the then 14-year-old told me the kid said he got paid fifty bucks daily, in cash. However, if there were paper checks, how come Faulkingham didn’t enter them into the evidence? After all, his only other evidence was a citation of a BDN story with no connection to the case, and a Facebook post that wasn’t considered legit.

But most audaciously, Faulkingham claimed that the law was on his side, when it comes to rules of kids working on boats. I don’t understand why he claimed this. According to the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division Field Operations Handbook, the law is pretty friggin’ clear. “Occupations which are in connection with transportation within the meaning of Child Labor Reg. 3, and are therefore, prohibited to 14- and 15-year-olds include: (1) jobs performed on trains, boats, buses, or other media of transportation.”

However, Faulkingham and his legal team argued, somehow, that being a sternman was “fishing” not a “job performed on…boats.” Which led the hearing officer to reduce the fines.

Again, wut?

This is bullshit because federal labor law is clear and since 29 CFR 570.33(n)(1) prohibits “the employment of 14- and 15-year-olds in occupations connected with the transportation of persons or property by rail, highway, air, water, pipeline, or other means. This prohibition involves the transportation of persons or property, and not just goods, which entails movement in commerce.”

Firstly, the lobsters that Faulkingham caught would be regarded as “property” and/or “goods.” If not, what would crustaceans sold for cash be considered? Secondly, while the state rep is a lousy lobsterman, going out to haul traps has to be considered “movement in commerce” because the very action of catching lobsters to sell is the most integral part of his commerce.

As for Faulkingham’s insistence that working as a 14-year-old untrained sternman isn’t hazardous, consider 29 CFR 570.33(n)(1) prohibition on “14- and 15-year-olds performing occupations in connection with the transportation of persons or property by rail, highway, air, water, pipeline, or other means. Some amusement park rides, such as boats, paddle boats, swan rides, ferries, and railroads fall within this prohibition.”

So 14-year-olds are banned from working on paddle boats, swan rides and ferries, but they can go out to haul with Faulkingham, who sunk his own vessel and seriously injured his prior sternman. That doesn’t pass the straight-faced test.

Below, btw, is a photo of the F/V Grampy’s Bird towing Faulkingham’s F/V 51 a week after the state rep claimed an angel rescued him. (The 51 is invisible because it’s being towed while submerged.)

Also (for landlubber readers), commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and in Maine. Especially if you’re working with Billy Bob.

Hopefully, Attorney Tardy’s legal fees for the defense of Rep. Faulkingham amounted to more than the reduction won by appeal. Anyways, at least Faulkingham was fined $3,468. Which, as of today, he still hasn't paid, according to the DOL database, even though the ruling was issued on Feb. 9.

Faulkingham’s appeal, though, tracks with his party’s on-going efforts to roll back child labor laws whenever possible. Also, his appeal tracks with Faulkingham’s reputation of being an irresponsible mariner who flouts the law on the reg and believes an angelic form of a recently deceased lobsterman saved him when Faulkingham sank his boat and stove up his then-sternman.

Gotta wonder, though, how this these child labor law violations will impact his candidacy for the Maine Senate, now that he’s being term-limited out of the Maine House and his leadership position.

Faulkingham is currently running for District 6, to represent Washington County and a sliver of Hancock County in the State House. That seat has, however, traditionally been held by a Washington County resident. This year though, Faulkingham broke protocol and launched a primary challenge to fellow GOPer and former Rep. Bucket Davis, a Republican from East Machias. Faulkingham entered the Senate race in January, over a month after Davis, triggering a GOP primary that will be held in June. Faulkingham apparently decided to run for Senate after he realized his shot at the Blaine House was doomed to fail, since the GOP gubernatorial slate was already over-saturated with chuds who shared Faulkingham’s xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

HOUSEKEEPING: Later this week, I’ll be publishing the final episode of the Unholy Fathers podcast called Haunted by a Bloody Priest which includes the never-before-told story about a series of disturbing sexual assaults in 1981 of a twelve-year-old girl, by then-45-year-old Father Charles Sullivan, one of the dozens of Catholic priests from Springfield, Massachusetts found “credibly accused” of sexually assaulting children. In this episode, Sullivan’s victim and I team up to get her long-delayed justice AND a financial settlement from the diocese of Springfield. You can listen to the previous 15 episodes of Unholy Fathers, starting with the heartbreaking murder of 13-year-old Danny Croteau by Father Richard Lavigne here.

Also, the debut of my forthcoming true crime investigative podcast Fake Shaman has been delayed a month, due to NEW developments and other folks coming forward with more stories about the 37-year-old white woman from Connecticut claiming to be an indigenously-trained shaman, who moved to Maine with dollar signs in her eyes and psychedelic mushrooms in her Coach bag.

This ten-episode investigation details the implosion of her shamanic mentorship due to a creepy sex magic ritual and exposes the manipulations of this serial liar and con-witch targeting vulnerable people in Maine and beyond. Plus, Fake Shaman is a how-to primer in detecting fraudsters and charlatans.

To fill the podcast feed in the meantime, I’ll be publishing the audio version of the above-mentioned Tough Island, which tells the true story of a wannabe-long-haired-ex-Coastie poet (me) living in a remote Maine community, working aboard a lobster boat. I originally produced this 12-part series for WERU-FM radio in 2021, during which I voiced all the characters and created an immersive sound design that makes it feel like you’re sitting in a sternman’s fishshack, smoking a joint and listening to the cry of sea gulls and foghorns.

actual photo of Crash from 1992.

Paid subscribers ($7 monthly, $75 annual) to The Crash Report get early, ad-free access to my new true crime podcast FAKE SHAMAN while supporting journalism that goes places other media won’t.