Manchester City will have to pay ex-player Benjamin Mendy around £8.5m after a judge ruled the club had wrongly stopped his pay.
The 30-year-old took City to an employment tribunal in Manchester last month, claiming his former club had wrongly stopped his £500,000-a-month salary after he was charged with sex offences and remanded into custody in August 2021.
He was subsequently cleared of all charges.
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.
His 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 £8.5m owed, though the exact amount is yet to be agreed by his lawyers and Manchester City.
In a 26-page ruling, Judge Dunlop said: “I doubt that quite so much legal expertise and endeavour has ever before been expended in the prosecution and defence of a wages claim brought by a single claimant.
“But then, I am also fairly sure that no other single claimant has ever alleged that sums in the region of £11 million have been deducted from his wages.”
Judge Dunlop said both the player and the club’s lawyers presented their case about whether Mendy “deserves” to be paid or not.
Mendy’s position is that he is an innocent man whose career has been ruined and life blighted by false sexual allegations and that City had abandoned him in his hour of need.
The club’s position is Mendy largely brought his troubles upon himself and ignored sensible advice and warning after warning in his self-destructive pursuit of his chosen lifestyle.
Judge Dunlop said while both these narratives have validity, the question of whether Mendy deserves to be paid, is “one for the commentators and comments sections” and the only question for her was whether he was legally entitled to pay under employment law.
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 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 City contained no provision allowing them to withhold wages where an FA suspension and/or bail prevented him from playing football.
Tribunal documents showed 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.
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
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.
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 FA suspension meant he was not able to perform his duties as a player.
Sean Jones KC, representing the club, told the two-day 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.
But Nick De Marco KC, representing Mendy, told the tribunal the case was not about the footballer’s lifestyle.
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.
