Manchester City must pay former player Benjamin Mendy most of the £11 million of wages that he missed out on while accused of sex offences, a tribunal has ruled.
The 30-year-old World Cup winner took the club to an employment tribunal over the money he missed out on between 2021 and 2023.
Mendy was accused of rapes and sexual assaults, but was ultimately cleared of all charges at the end of two criminal trials.
Man City blamed Mendy for the loss of wages, saying he had brought the situation on himself with a mix of womanising, partying during Covid lockdowns, and breaking his bail conditions.
Employment Judge Joanne Dunlop ruled on Wednesday that Mendy found himself in custody for part of the time when he was awaiting trial due to breached bail conditions, so he could not claim back the loss wages for that period of around five months.
But she said he was not to blame for an FA suspension over the remaining 17 months which kept him away from Premier League action.
“The Club was entitled to withhold Mr Mendy’s salary for the periods during which he was remanded in custody”, a summary of the ruling set out.
The judge 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 (FA). 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.”
Man City and Mendy’s representatives could now agree the exact amount owed to the player from around £11 million of untaxed wages, or the dispute would have to come back to court for a further ruling.
The tribunal heard how Mendy threw a party at his home in Cheshire in September 2020, when the country had been placed under ‘Rule of Six’ Covid restrictions.
Police were called out to shut down the party, but Mendy threw a second bash the following night – an event which culminated in a rape allegation against him.
Sean Jones KC, for Man City, accused Mendy of engaging in “highly risky behaviour” over the course of a long period of time, by “bringing home women for sex while knowing very little about them”.
“He consciously ignored his legal obligations, both to the club, and under Covid regulations and under bail conditions and he ignored the advice of the people closest to him, including his agent”, he argued.
When Mendy was first charged with criminal offences, the club placed him under a party ban and he was also subject to restrictive bail conditions.
But he threw another party which ended with a sexual offence allegation being levelled against him.
Mendy was remanded in custody in August 2021, and the club stopped paying his £500,000-a-month wages.
In fighting the tribunal, Mendy revealed that his former teammates Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez had helped him financially.
And he also turned attention on stars including Jack Grealish who had attended lockdown-busting parties at his home.
Mendy, now plying his trade for French Ligue 2 club Lorient, 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 saw a retrial and Mr Mendy was found not guilty of one charge of rape and one charge of attempted rape.
He sold his Cheshire mansion while under suspicion of sex crimes. In April he staved off the threat of bankruptcy by settling a six-figure tax debt.
Man City have the option of launching an appeal against today’s decision.
