Judge Rules Benjamin Mendy Entitled to Most Unpaid Wages from Manchester City

Benjamin Mendy, who made his France debut in 2017, has been declared entitled to “the majority of his unpaid salary” from the Premier League club, Manchester City, according to a judge’s ruling. The France international, who faced charges of rape and sexual assault in August 2021, initiated an employment tribunal against City. He sought approximately £11m before tax in unpaid earnings after being suspended without pay from September 2021 until his departure from the club in June 2023. Last year, Mendy was acquitted of a series of rape and attempted rape charges. Judge Joanne Dunlop determined that City was justified in withholding Mendy’s salary for the periods he spent in custody, which accounted for about five of the 22 months he was not compensated. In a statement posted on social media, Mendy remarked: “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.” A Football Association suspension meant Mendy, who earned a basic salary of £6m annually, was unable to fulfill his contractual obligations even when not in custody. Judge Dunlop stated: “I found that Mr Mendy was ‘ready and willing’ to work during the non-custody periods, and was prevented from doing so by impediments (the FA suspension and bail conditions) which were unavoidable or involuntary on his part.” She indicated that the exact sum Mendy will receive will be calculated either through agreement between the two parties or at a future hearing if they cannot reach a consensus. Manchester City has declined to comment. Mendy was held in custody for five months before being released on bail in January 2022. The case proceeded to trial for the first time in August 2022. In January 2023, Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. He was subsequently acquitted of raping one woman and attempting to rape another in July 2023 at a retrial. Mendy, who left City upon the expiration of his contract, currently plays for the French side Lorient. In the submissions detailed within the judgment, Mendy’s lawyer contended that City had “a binary choice – to follow the dismissal procedure (which would, if a dismissal resulted, have freed Mr Mendy to contract with another club) or to keep him under contract and continue paying him”. The hearing was informed that on 15 occasions, Mendy either hosted or attended parties in violation of Covid-19 regulations, bail conditions, or both. City’s lawyers argued that the suspension, his time in custody, and his bail terms “clearly amounted to a full impediment to Mr Mendy being able to perform his contract” and that these impediments resulted from his “culpable behaviour”. The judgment noted: “Mr Mendy’s position is that he is an innocent man whose career has been ruined, and life blighted, by false sexual allegations and that the football club which brought him to this country effectively abandoned him in his hour of need.” Manchester City’s position was that Mr. Mendy largely brought his troubles upon himself and disregarded sensible advice and repeated warnings in his self-destructive pursuit of his chosen lifestyle. The judgment observed that both these narratives possess validity, and there is no single cause for the chain of events that unfolded in this case. It further clarified that the question of whether Mr. Mendy deserves to be paid is a matter for commentators and public discussion, while the sole legal inquiry was whether Manchester City was legally entitled to withhold that pay. Mendy’s legal team asserted that Omar Berrada, City’s then chief football operations officer, had stated Mendy would be paid his salary if found not guilty. Berrada denied this claim, and Judge Dunlop declared any “assurances about backpay” to be “irrelevant.” Mendy, who joined City from Monaco in a £52m deal in 2017, won the Premier League in 2018, 2019, and 2021. His final appearance for City occurred on 15 August 2021.