Benjamin Mendy WINS £11m unpaid wages battle with Man City to claim ‘majority’ of wages after being acquitted of rape

Benjamin Mendy has won his legal battle against Manchester City for the bulk of his unpaid wages while facing rape charges.

Mendy was cleared of raping a woman and trying to rape another woman in his £4million mansion after a trial last year.

City had withheld Mendy’s £500,000 monthly salary in 2021, when Mendy was arrested for the second time.

Mendy, who joined City from Monaco for £49 million in 2017, responded by taking the Premier League champions to the employment tribunal and won the fight for the bulk of his unpaid wages by claiming an ‘unauthorised deduction’ from his wages.

Mendy’s claim was around £11 million before tax. The court’s decision means he will be entitled to most, but not all, of that figure as he spent nearly five months in custody during the 22-month period covered by the claim. The exact amount will be agreed by the parties involved or at a future hearing if an agreement cannot be reached.

Benjamin Mendy wins legal battle against Manchester City

The court heard City continued to pay Mendy after his first arrest in November 2020, but changed his tune when he was re-arrested the following year.

But Mendy’s contract includes a £900,000 bonus for appearing in 60 per cent of matches, a £1m bonus if City qualify for the Champions League and an annual £1.2m fee in addition to his image rights company. It was stated that he would receive payment. his salary.

After he was charged, Mendy was told by city administrators that they could not pay his salary because he was “not ready at this time and is not capable of fulfilling the obligations of his contract.”

Mendy claimed then-chief operating officer Omar Berrada assured him he would receive his salary after he was acquitted, but the court heard Mendy received no response from Berrada or CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak when he reached out to the pair for clarification.

Mendy told the court that his then City team-mates Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez helped him financially while his wages were cut and he was forced to sell his Cheshire mansion to pay his legal fees, bills and alimony. .

City argued in court that Mendy was solely responsible for acting irresponsibly after reports that the left-back hosted parties at the mansion during lockdown and breached his bail conditions.

Sean Jones KC, representing City, said: ‘The essence of Mr Mendy’s submission is that his contract creates a moral hazard.

‘I can act as irresponsibly as I want, disregarding all the rules of the club, both legal and common sense, to the point where my behavior could result in prison,’ he says.

‘He’s trying to make a virtue out of moral hazard. “It should not affect my right to payment in any way. There should be no consequences for my behavior,” he says.’

Mendy now plays for Lorient in Ligue 2 after returning to France last year following the expiration of his contract with City. He has not played for City since August 2021 following rape allegations against him.

Mendy, who was acquitted by the jury after three hours of deliberations at his retrial last year, cried in the defendant’s chair and shouted ‘Alhamdulillah’; it was an Arabic phrase meaning ‘Praise be to Allah’.

More to follow…