Benjamin Mendy WINS £11m unpaid wages battle against Man City after rape acquittal

French defender Benjamin Mendy, who now plays in Ligue 2 with Lorient, will be repaid majority of the salary docked by Manchester City following a hearing at an employment tribunal

Benjamin Mendy has won the majority of his £11m claim against Manchester City FC for unpaid wages after the club stopped paying his salary when he was charged with sex offences, an Employment Tribunal judge has ruled.

The French full back, 30, was suspended by City in August 2021 following his arrest for a number of sex offences, including rape. He was remanded in custody for five months with the club withholding his salary until the end of his contract in June 2023.

But in January 2023 Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault following a trial lasting several months. And in July 2023 he was then cleared of one count of rape and another of attempted rape in a retrial.

Mendy had to sell his Cheshire mansion to cover legal fees, bills and child support payments - with the court hearing how former team-mates such as Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva helped him out.

Employment Judge Joanne Dunlop said she had concluded that Mr Mendy is “entitled to recover some, but not all of the sums claimed”, following a hearing at Manchester Employment Tribunal.

Ms Dunlop said that while Mr Mendy was not in custody, he was “ready and willing” to work and was “prevented from doing so which were unavoidable or involuntary on his part”.

“In those circumstances, and absent any authorisation in the contract for the employer to withhold pay, he was entitled to be paid.”

Mr Mendy will be entitled to receive the majority of his unpaid salary, but not all of it. Ms Dunlop ruled Man City were entitled to withhold Mendy’s money when he was remanded in custody due to breaching bail conditions.

The exact amount owed is to be calculated by Mr Mendy and the club or determined at a future hearing if they cannot reach an agreement.

Following the ruling Mendy said: "Today the Employment Tribunal upheld the main part of my claim against Manchester City Football Club for unpaid wages, finding that the Club had unlawfully made deductions from my wages for a total period of 16 months and 23 days.

"Having had to wait for 3 years for my wages, I am delighted with the decision and sincerely hope that the Club will now do the honourable thing and pay the outstanding amounts, as well as the other amounts promised to me under the contract, without further delay, so I can finally put this difficult part of my life behind me."

In a statement supplied to the employment tribunal last month, the footballer, now playing for Lorient in the French second tier, said: “Several Manchester City first-team players, including the club captain, were all present at the parties that I attended and hosted.

“We all drank alcohol. We all had casual relations with women. We all breached Covid-19 restrictions. This does not excuse my behaviour, but I feel that it is unfair for Manchester City to single me out in the way that they have. The difference between me and the other Manchester City players is that I was the one that was falsely accused of rape and publicly humiliated.”

There is no suggestion any behaviour from his former team-mates was non-consensual. Mendy, who is being represented by Nick De Marco KC, added: “I was just as ready, willing and able to perform my duties as the other Manchester City players that Manchester City knew attended the parties, and on Manchester City’s account, acted recklessly.

“I am not, however, aware of Manchester City deducting or suspending the pay of any of the other players even when it was public knowledge that such players had attended the parties.

"I do, therefore, feel it incredibly unjust that Manchester City effectively singled me out from the team when I was doing nothing different to the rest of the team.”

Mendy also claimed three team-mates, two of whom are now at different clubs, offered him financial support while he was not being paid. “Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez all lent me money to help me try and pay my legal fees and support my family," he added.

Mendy joined City from Monaco in 2017 in a £52m transfer. He won three Premier League titles at the Etihad but was sidelined by a series of injuries.

Sean Jones KC, representing the Premier League champions, told the tribunal that Mendy only had himself to blame for not being paid - due to his own irresponsible behaviour.

He said: "The essence of the submission by Mr Mendy is that his contract creates a moral hazard. He says 'I can behave as irresponsibly as I like, I can ignore all the rules, both legal, of the club and common sense to the point where my behaviour results in prison.

"He is trying to make a moral hazard into a virtue. He says, ‘It should in no way affect my entitlement to pay. There should be no consequences to my behaviour.'"