Benjamin Mendy wins £8.5m in unpaid Man City wages after rape acquittal

Tribunal rules the club were only entitled to withhold five months of Mendy’s salary, amounting to £2.5m, for periods he spent in custody

Manchester City face handing Benjamin Mendy £8.5 million in unpaid wages after he won his employment tribunal claim against them.
City refused to pay Mendy for the final 22 months of his contract – amounting to £11 million – after he stood trial for rape, even upon him being acquitted last year.
The full-back took the Premier League champions to an employment tribunal, which has ruled that the club were entitled to withhold only five months of his salary, the equivalent of £2.5 million, for the period in which he was remanded in custody for breaching bail conditions attached to his case.
A summary of the ruling by Judge Joanne Dunlop read: “She was satisfied that Mr Mendy found himself in custody (and therefore unable to perform his employment contract) in part due to his own actions in breaching the bail conditions he had previously been placed under.
“This was a culpable conduct which could be separated from the underlying criminal allegations.
“During the periods when Mr Mendy was not in custody, he was also unable to fulfil his obligations under his employment contract. The judge found this was primarily because he had been suspended by the Football Association.
“The nature of that suspension was precautionary, rather than punitive, and there were no findings of misconduct made by the FA. The judge concluded that the suspension was therefore an impediment to contractual performance which was ‘involuntary’ or ‘unavoidable’ from Mr Mendy’s perspective.
“The judge further concluded that the bail conditions Mr Mendy was under were influenced, at least indirectly, by the FA suspension, and were themselves an involuntary or unavoidable impediment.
“The club was therefore not entitled to withhold his pay for these periods. The fact that Mr Mendy’s contract contained no provision permitting the club to withhold wages where an FA suspension and/or bail conditions prevented the player from performing his obligations was an important part of the reason for this decision.
“The total amount claimed by Mr Mendy in unpaid salary was around £11 million (before tax). The result of this decision is that Mr Mendy will be entitled to receive the majority of his unpaid salary, although not all of it.
“He spent two periods in custody, which accounted for approximately five months of the 22-month period covered by the claim. The exact amounts due will be calculated by the parties, or determined at a future hearing if the parties cannot agree.”
The full-back was suspended by City in August 2021 after being charged with four counts of rape and then denied his £6 million-a-year salary while he awaited trial. Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez subsequently helped support Mendy with loans, the tribunal heard.
After being acquitted on all counts, Mendy claimed his partying at the time of the allegations was mirrored by other players at the club.
He alleged that up to five team-mates joined his alcohol-fuelled parties. Several, including a club captain, “all drank alcohol” and “all breached Covid-19 restrictions”, he added in the employment tribunal. No names were confirmed during live evidence. However, in further written submissions, Mendy submitted a January 2023 article cutting which named Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and John Stones as being with him on one night in question. “All those players attended the parties which led to the charges,” Mendy said of the Athletic website article in written evidence.
Attendees of Mendy’s house parties were not directly named at the hearing. However, evidence submitted to the tribunal includes reference to a party-goer at Mendy’s first criminal trial, who claimed she spoke to the England player Jack Grealish. That same witness also claimed to have seen Kyle Walker during initial court proceedings. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of Mendy’s team-mates during any period.