Benjamin Mendy has claimed that several Manchester City teammates participated in alcohol-fueled parties and had “casual relations with women,” as he launched an £11 million unpaid wages lawsuit against the Premier League champions. The full-back, who was suspended by City in August 2021 following charges of four counts of rape, had his £6 million-a-year salary withheld while awaiting trial. After being acquitted on all counts, Mendy is now taking the club to a tribunal, arguing that his behavior at the time was no different from that of other players.
In a written statement submitted as evidence, Mendy stated, “Several Manchester City first-team players, including the club captain, were all present at the parties that I attended and hosted.” While there is no suggestion of non-consensual behavior, Mendy added, “We all drank alcohol. We all had casual relations with women. We all breached Covid-19 restrictions.” He believes that Manchester City unfairly singled him out because of the false rape accusations, saying, “The difference between me and the other Manchester City players is that I was the one falsely accused of rape and publicly targeted.”
Mendy, who spent over four months in custody before being released on bail in January 2022, is seeking unpaid wages from September 2021 to July 2023. He claims that from September 2021, City stopped paying him because they deemed him unavailable for work due to his bail and subsequent trials. During cross-examination, Mendy acknowledged that he partied when he should have been resting but attributed some of his actions to the grief of losing his father.
Mendy argued that he was treated unfairly compared to his teammates who also attended these parties, stating, “I was just as ready, willing, and able to perform my duties as the other Manchester City players who attended the parties… I feel it incredibly unjust that Manchester City singled me out when I was doing nothing different from the rest of the team.”
Having joined Lorient last season, Mendy signed for Manchester City from Monaco in 2017 for £52 million and won Premier League titles in 2018, 2019, and 2021. His last appearance for City was in August 2021. In January 2023, Mendy was acquitted of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, and in July, he was cleared of further charges in a retrial.
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