Benjamin Mendy wins majority of $14m unpaid wages case against Manchester City

LONDON: Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy won a lawsuit against the club on Wednesday after he was docked more than 11 million pounds ($14 million) in wages after being accused of sexual offenses and later cleared.

The French national player filed a lawsuit against Manchester City last year. The Premier League club stopped paying him in September 2021, shortly after he was accused of sexual offences, until June 2023, when his contract was due to expire.

Mendy was acquitted of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January 2023 following a trial at Chester Crown Court. After a retrial, he was found not guilty of one count of rape and one count of attempted rape.

The 30-year-old claimed City unlawfully withheld the wages he was entitled to under his contract and said in a witness statement that he was promised he would be paid once he was cleared.

However, City’s lawyers said Mendy had not been paid because he was unable to fulfill his duties as he was held in custody ahead of his trial for breaching bail conditions.

“Mr Mendy is entitled to recover some, but not all, of the sums claimed,” Judge Joanne Dunlop said in a written decision on Wednesday. he said.

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

Mendy said in a statement published on amounts without further delay, so that I can finally leave this difficult part of my life behind me.”

In his ruling, Dunlop said Manchester City had the right to deduct Mendy’s wages for the two periods he spent in custody, covering approximately five months of Mendy’s 22-month claim period.

Dunlop found that Mendy was “ready and willing to work” when not in custody and was prevented from doing so by the Football Association’s suspension and bail conditions that were “unavoidable or involuntary on his part”.

Mendy transferred to City from AS Monaco in 2017 for an annual salary of around 52 million pounds, with an annual salary of 6 million pounds.

Shortly after his retrial, he signed for French club Lorient, currently in Ligue 2.