Benjamin Mendy wins majority of Manchester City employment tribunal claim for £11.5 million wages

Manchester City must pay former footballer Benjamin Mendy the majority of his £11.5 million unpaid salary withheld from him after he was charged with sex offences, an employment tribunal has ruled.

The 30-year-old's £500,000-per-month wage was withheld by the club after he was charged in 2021. The French international and World Cup winner was subsequently cleared of all charges after two trials.

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," she said.

Mendy said he is “delighted” after City was ordered to pay him around £8.5 million and called on the club to do the “honourable thing” and pay up quickly so he can move on with his life.

In a statement, Mr Mendy thanked his lawyers and said: “Having had to wait for three 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.”

The tribunal previous heard Mendy, who now plays for French Ligue 2 club Lorient, "struggled to pay child support" after Manchester City stopped paying him, with fellow footballers Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez lending him money.

Court documents said Mendy “very quickly ran out of money” and had to sell his Cheshire mansion to cover legal fees, bills and child support payments after his wages were withheld.

“I struggled to pay my child support, I felt awful,” the footballer said in a witness statement.

Mendy said his agent, Meissa N’diaye, paid towards his legal fees, while team-mates including England international Sterling offered “financial support”.

“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 said in his witness statement.

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.

Mendy, appearing via videolink at the two-day hearing in October, told the tribunal he and his agent N’diaye had been assured by City’s then Chief Football Operating officer Omar Berrada that he would receive his unpaid wages once he had been cleared of the charges.

The footballer sent Berrada a WhatsApp message in November 2022, asking if he could confirm in writing that the wages would be paid, the tribunal heard.

But Berrada did not reply to the message and denied ever having made such an assurance.

After his acquittal, Mendy sent an email to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chief executive of City, but again received no response.

The club 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.

Mendy's claim covered a 22-month period, five of which were when he was in custody for breaching bail conditions and therefore not entitled to pay, the judge ruled.

This leaves him with around £8.5 million owed, though the exact amount is yet to be agreed by his lawyers and Manchester City.