Unfortunately rejected Rodney's case for pay (6)
I believe the answer is:
salary
'pay' is the definition.
('salary' can be a synonym of 'pay')
'unfortunately rejected rodney's case' is the wordplay.
'unfortunately' becomes 'alas' (I've seen this before).
'rejected' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'case' suggests removing the centre.
'rodney' with its centre removed is 'ry'.
'alas' in reverse letter order is 'sala'.
'sala'+'ry'='SALARY'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for salary that I've seen before include "Monthly pay" , "Stipend" , "Annual pay" , "Remuneration, earnings" , "Worker's pay" .)