Right to withhold pay vs ready, willing and able to work – lessons from Mendy v. Manchester City Employment Tribunal Decision
Friday, 21 February 2025
Author: Elouisa Crichton, Kate Coppack, Sarah Britton
This article analyses the decision by the Employment Tribunal in the case of Mendy v. Manchester City Football Club (2411709/2023) and provides a few key learnings from the case for employers in the sports industry.
Introduction
In what was one of the most high-profile Employment Tribunal (“ET”) cases of 2024, in October the Manchester ET delivered its highly anticipated judgment on Benjamin Mendy's ET claim for unauthorised deduction from wages. He claimed that by suspending him without pay pending the outcome of the case, his employer had deducted money from his salary without legal or contractual permission.
Judge Dunlop described the outcome of the recent case of Mendy v. Manchester City Football Club (2411709/2023) (“Decision”) as a judgment that "needs no introduction"[1] and remarked that "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."[2]
The decision is available here.
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Elouisa is a Partner in Dentons' People Reward and Mobility practice in Glasgow, specializing in employment and equality law, particularly in the professional sports sector. With expertise spanning Scottish, UK, and international matters, she is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in both employment and discrimination law. Recognized as Up and Coming Partner by Chambers and Partners, a Next Generation Partner and Employment Rising Star of the Year by Legal 500, Elouisa provides strategic advice on corporate transactions, complex employment issues, equality obligations, and general HR advisory and employment/equality matters in sports. She has significant experience in gender equality, including equal pay and gender pay gap reporting, and has supported clients with high-profile, media-sensitive cultural change projects. As a member of Dentons' Sports Law Sector group, she regularly advises on employment matters within professional sport. Elouisa is also an advocate for workplace sexual harassment reforms and a founding volunteer for Maternity Action’s online legal support forum.
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Kate is an Associate in Dentons' People, Reward and Mobility practice in Milton Keynes, specializing in employment law with a particular focus on employer-side litigation and HR issues within the sports sector. She advises on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters, including unfair dismissal, whistleblowing, and discrimination claims. Kate also provides strategic guidance on disciplinary and grievance procedures, as well as reviewing contracts, company handbooks, and policies. In the transactional sphere, Kate has experience advising on corporate transactions involving multiple jurisdictions, due diligence, and reviewing employment provisions in transaction documents. As part of Dentons' Sports Law Sector group, she advises clients on employment matters in the sporting space and has also been involved in advising on the employment aspects of a successful bid submission for a major football tournament. As a professional cricketer, she also has a unique first hand insight into challenges faced by sports people and organisations.
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Sarah is an Associate in Dentons' People, Reward and Mobility practice in Glasgow, specializing in employment law. She advises on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters, managing a range of tribunal claims UK wide and providing strategic advice on prospects and resolution of claims. She is a key contact for day-to-day HR advisory matters including disciplinary, grievance, ill-health, poor performance and whistleblowing. She spent 6 months in-house on secondment within the employment law team of a client within a highly regulated sector.
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