Congress asks pro-Democrat union why it hired sex offender to top role

The House Education and Workforce Committee is investigating a pro-Democrat union’s decision to hire a child molester to a top local chapter role after the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed the employee’s record.

Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan, the committee’s chair, is asking the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) why its San Francisco chapter hired sex offender Noelia Linares as a business agent, according to a Tuesday letter the DCNF obtained. The DCNF first reported on Linares after the arrest of a local SEIU leader helped kick off days of anti-deportation riots in Los Angeles, drawing national attention toward the union.

06.23.25 Seiu Oversight Letter by Hudson Crozier

“Given the vulnerable populations many SEIU workers serve, the Committee seeks to understand how this occurred and whether reforms to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) are necessary,” Walberg wrote to SEIU President April Verrett.

Linares was charged in 2017 with sex crimes related to her behavior with four alleged victims at a high school where she was a teaching assistant, the committee noted. Linares pleaded “no contest” in 2018 to sexually penetrating a minor with a foreign object and child molesting, while six other charges were dropped. SEIU Local 87 in San Francisco hired Linares in October 2022, less than two years after her probation ended.

The SEIU and Linares did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

“[SEIU] Local 87’s decision to hire Ms. Linares in 2022 to serve as a business agent should be a matter of deep concern to the millions of workers that SEIU represents,” Walberg wrote. The letter noted that SEIU represents workers interacting with “vulnerable populations,” including more than 60 million patients in hospitals, health centers, nursing homes, and in-home care settings.

Walberg is asking the SEIU to disclose how many of its employees are registered sex offenders, how the union decides whether to hire sex offenders, and other information.

The LMRDA prohibits people convicted of crimes such as rape from working at unions, Walberg noted. “As such, the Committee is investigating this matter to better determine whether the LMRDA should be amended to include registered sex offenders among those prohibited from holding office in a labor union,” the lawmaker wrote.

SEIU boasts on its website about representing “more than 1 million local and state government workers, public school employees, bus drivers, and child care providers — including 80,000 early learning and child care professionals,” Walberg emphasized.

“The hiring practices of unions and their leadership are important to the Committee as such hiring relates to the integrity of a union and sets an example for their dues-paying members,” the letter says.

Linares’ gross salary has increased each year since she started at the SEIU, with $66,672 in earnings in 2024, Department of Labor (DOL) records show.

SEIU has a history of backing Democratic electoral candidates, including former President Barack Obama, and focuses on helping migrant workers avoid deportation, the DCNF previously reported.

The union helped other leftist groups call for protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on June 6 over the arrest of SEIU California leader David Huerta during ICE raids in the city. Hundreds of people then arrived at a federal building in Los Angeles, where the situation devolved into rioting and arrests that persisted for a week.

Latest posts by Hudson Crozier (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.