French Defender Wins Part Of Unpaid Wages Case Against Manchester City

Former Manchester City defender, Benjamin Mendy, on Wednesday won a partial victory in his case against the Premier League club for over 11 million pounds in unpaid wages after he was charged with and acquitted of sexual offenses.

The France international filed a claim with an employment tribunal against Manchester City last year. He is seeking unpaid wages and interest for the period from when the club stopped his payments in September 2021 until the end of his contract in June 2023.

Mendy argued City had unlawfully deducted wages that he was due under his contract, saying in a witness statement that he had been promised he would be paid after he was cleared.

City’s lawyers, however, said Mendy was not paid because he “was not ready and able to perform his duties … as a consequence of his conduct”, as he was held in custody before his trial for breaching his bail conditions.

Judge Joanne Dunlop upheld part of Mendy’s case in a written ruling on Wednesday.

A summary of the tribunal’s judgment stated, “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.”

Manchester City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mendy said in a statement posted on X, “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 honorable 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.”

In her ruling, Dunlop stated that Mendy spent two separate periods in custody, totaling approximately five months out of the 22 months covered by his claim, during which City had the right to withhold his pay.

When Mendy was not in custody, Dunlop found, he was “ready and willing to work” and prevented from doing so by impediments such as his suspension by the Football Association and bail conditions “which were unavoidable or involuntary on his part”.

“In those circumstances, and absent any authorization in the contract for the employer to withhold pay, he was entitled to be paid,” Dunlop added.

Mendy joined City from AS Monaco in 2017 for a fee of around 52 million pounds, on an annual salary of six million pounds.

He signed for French club Lorient, currently in Ligue 2, shortly after his retrial.