Huntington Beach : After Quitting One Job, He’s Fired From Other

A former employee of the Huntington Beach city attorney’s office, who quit after it was learned he had also been secretly working full-time for the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, has been fired from the federal job.

Walter F. Burk, the 49-year-old financial analyst for City Atty. Gail Hutton’s office, was fired effective March 31, according to his boss, George Ryker, court executive for the Central District.

Ryker said Tuesday that Burk, whom he had hired as his chief deputy Oct. 19, was dismissed “basically on the grounds that he withheld information concerning the fact that he had other employment and he misrepresented the reasons underlying me granting him an extensive leave without pay.”

Ryker said March 31 was the last day Burk was at his federal job, for which he earned an annual salary of $43,452. He was confronted about the dual jobs that night by Hutton.

An attorney working on contract for the Huntington Beach city attorney’s office allegedly spotted Burk in federal court a few weeks ago. Hutton was notified. Burk, it was later learned, had missed work 40% of the time during the six months he held his federal court job--absences mostly without pay for what he reportedly told his supervisors were trips out of state to visit his dying mother.

Hutton confronted Burk about the two jobs, but was later criticized by city administrators for inadequately supervising her employees. Police are investigating whether Burk was ever paid for days he was not at work.