Man City ordered to hand Benjamin Mendy majority of £11m unpaid wages after defender's rape acquittal

Former City defender Mendy filed an employment tribunal claim against the Premier League club in 2023, seeking more than £11m in unpaid wages. Mendy was charged with rape and sexual assault in August 2021, and Manchester City stopped paying his £100,000-a-week salary from September 2021 until his contract at the club expired in June 2023. The defender argued that the club unlawfully deducted wages that he was due and said in a witness statement that he had been promised he would be paid once he was acquitted. Meanwhile, the club said that because Mendy was held in custody, after breaching bail, he "was not ready and able to perform his duties ... as a consequence of his own conduct".

Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January 2023 at a trial at Chester Crown Court. He was then found not guilty of one count of rape and one of attempted rape after a retrial. Judge Joanne Dunlop upheld Mendy's case against Manchester City, meaning a partial victory for Mendy against his former employers, who must now pay the 30-year-old the wages he is owed.

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."

After leaving Man City, Mendy moved to French side Lorient on a free transfer in July 2023. He has made just one appearance for the club this season in Ligue 2 following their relegation from the French top flight in 2023-24.