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# District says he was ‘double-dipping’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/district-says-he-was-double-dipping/
- Published: 2003-06-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:23:40.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

*District questions why teacher waited to make claim*

*By DAVE DANFORTH Daily Press Staff Writer*

A physical education instructor won a partial victory recently in an unusual case in which he sued the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District for overtime pay.

Gary Bush, who has worked for the school system for 16 years and still works there, won about one-third of the $9,911 he sought, even though his union had difficulty pursuing the case because the overtime allegedly arose out of a verbal agreement.

The award — for overtime during the 2001-2002 school year — came in a small claims case he brought against the district, whose officials said he has a history of trying to wring extra pay from the district and was “double-dipping.”

Bush, from Marina del Rey, claims he had to train two new employees in adapted physical education techniques. Such training is used for pupils who have special physical needs or are disabled.

He claimed that during the fall of 2001, he struck a verbal deal with assistant superintendent Tim McNulty allowing him the equivalent of a “sixth period” of pay to undertake the training.

Bush pointed to a parallel Jammin’ agreement in which McNulty approved an increase in his mileage reimbursement to cover additional travel from the Santa Monica district office to the schools he covered, mostly in Malibu. Usual policy is that mileage only starts at the first school. He was paid $1,156 in mileage during the year, but received nothing on his overtime request.

According to Bush, McNulty denied making the overtime agreement when Bush brought it up later. McNulty, who has since retired as assistant superintendent, didn’t testify in the case.

The school district strongly resisted the request, noting that Bush abided by none of the specific procedures that require a “position control form” so that the district can monitor extra expenses.

Bush calculated his request as about one-sixth of his $68,000 salary, or an extra $62.65 daily on top of his usual six-hour work day. The overtime, he said, was similar to a request for pay for an extra — or sixth — period of work after his normal school day, which ended shortly before 2 p.m.

Joe Quarles, McNulty’s successor as assistant superintendent, said the district doesn’t work on verbal agreements without documentation. He questioned why Bush had waited so long to raise the issue and attacked Bush’s assertion that he needed to be paid for preparation time and paperwork involved in training the two new employees. He wondered why, if Bush had been shorted pay starting in the autumn of 2001, he waited until March of 2002 to ask for it. Peggy Harris, the district’s assistant superintendent for pupil services, noted Bush claimed his work day began at 6:15 a.m., when there were no other employees present. “At 6:15 a.m., you weren’t training anyone,” she said in court, turning to Bush.

Quarles and Harris maintained that Bush was already being paid for the training he did, that the district doesn’t pay anyone for extra paperwork and that Bush was, in effect, “double-dipping.” They noted that Bush had filed a prior unsuccessful grievance over prep work he claimed to have done during the lunch period.

The limit in small claims court is $5,000, which would have capped Bush’s claim. He won $3,522 from commissioner pro tem Susanne Cummings. Though Cummings didn’t explain her ruling, she mentioned several times during the trial that the district’s approval of the mileage pay change could prove Bush’s claim that a verbal agreement existed with McNulty.

Verbal agreements are enforceable in court but are often difficult to prove. Quarles and Harris, speaking for the district, said the mileage reimbursements were handled completely separately and are commonly paid to district employees who must travel between schools. Bush’s receipt of mileage pay didn’t prove he had any agreement with McNulty covering overtime, they said.

“We pay mileage to everyone who travels,” Harris told the commissioner.

Bush acknowledged risk in bringing the case when he noted his unsuccessful earlier claim for lunch pay. “I’m putting my butt on the line” in suing his employer, he said after the trial. The decision didn’t come until later.

It’s unclear whether the school district will appeal the judgment or pay it.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/062303-02_01.jpg)

Norman Jones, his son Bailey and the band Rhythm Child sing at the Farmer’s Market on Main Street on Sunday. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 23, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062303.pdf?ref=smdp.com)