Ex-Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has won the majority of his £11 million claim for unpaid wages against his former club.
The 30-year-old took Man City to a two-day employment tribunal in Manchester last month, claiming the club had wrongly stopped his £500,000-a-month salary after he was charged with sex offences and remanded into custody in August 2021.
Tribunal Judge Joanne Dunlop ruled on Wednesday that Mendy should be entitled to the majority of his £11 million claim for unauthorised deductions from his wages by the club.
She ruled Man City were entitled to withhold Mendy’s money when he was remanded in custody due to breaching bail conditions.
During the periods when Mendy was not in custody, he was also unable to fulfil his job, the judge found, primarily because he had been suspended by the Football Association (FA).
Judge Dunlop ruled the nature of that suspension was “precautionary” and there were no findings of misconduct made by the FA.
She concluded the suspension was therefore an impediment to him fulfilling his contract to train and play for Man City, which was “involuntary” or “unavoidable” on Mendy’s part.
She said Mendy’s bail conditions were influenced, at least indirectly, by the FA suspension, and were themselves an involuntary or unavoidable impediment.
The club were therefore not entitled to withhold his pay and his contract with Man City contained no provision allowing them to withhold wages where an FA suspension and/or bail prevented him from playing football.
Mendy spent two periods in custody, which accounted for approximately five months of the 22-month period covered by his claim.
The total amount Mendy is entitled to is yet to be agreed by his lawyers and Man City.
Tribunal documents showed Mr Mendy “very quickly ran out of money” and had to sell his £4.8 million Cheshire mansion to cover legal fees, bills and child support payments after his wages were withheld.
Mendy, who now plays for French Ligue 2 club Lorient, said team-mates Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez all lent him money.
The tribunal heard he enjoyed partying, and was held in custody between August 2021 and January 2022, and again between December 2022 and January 2023 after he breached his bail conditions by hosting and attending multiple parties.
A January 2021 party at his multimillion-pound home lasted until 4am, despite him having a match the following day, the tribunal was told.
He claimed Man City’s then chief football operating officer, Omar Berrada, told him he would receive his unpaid wages once he had been cleared of the charges, which Mr Berrada denied.
The club had continued paying Mendy following his first arrest in November 2020, but argued they did not have to carry on doing so later because his bail conditions and Football Association suspension meant he was not able to perform his duties as a player.
Sean Jones KC, representing the club, told the tribunal the player only had himself to blame for not being paid.
He said Mendy’s womanising, partying during the Covid lockdown, and breaking bail conditions led to his arrest and stay in jail.
Mendy, Mr Jones told the tribunal, thought he could “ignore all the rules”, resulting in him being unable to train and play for Man City, but claimed it should not affect his entitlement to pay.
His “luck ran out” finally in August 2021 when, following a further allegation, he was charged with offences, a judge remanded him in custody and the club stopped paying him.
Mendy was then unable to train or play for Man City – his “core duties” as an employee of the club, who stopped his wages.
But Nick De Marco KC, representing Mendy, told the tribunal the case was not about the footballer’s lifestyle.
“He partied too much and too often. Very often with other high-profile members of Manchester City’s team,” he said.
“As a result of allegations that turned out to have all been dismissed, he spent over four months in custody – time he can never get back.”
Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January 2023, but the same jury could not reach a verdict on another count of rape and one count of attempted rape.
It led to a retrial after which Mendy was found not guilty of one charge of rape and one charge of attempted rape.
