An Ohio court ruled Thursday customers cannot be surprised if boneless chicken wings actually contain bones in them.
The divided decision in the Ohio Supreme Court follows a suit filed by Michael Berkheimer, who sued a local wing spot in Hamilton, Ohio, after the “boneless” wings he ordered apparently had a bone in them, according to the New York Post (NYP).
Berkheimer apparently felt a bite of the wing go down the wrong way and three days later ended up at the hospital sick with a fever where doctors discovered a thin, long bone had torn through his esophagus, causing an infection, the NYP reported. He later sued the restaurant for failure to warn him of the wings containing bones, according to the outlet.
The farm that produced the chicken and the supplier were additionally named in the suit, with Berkheimer claiming negligence, the NYP reported.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Thursday “boneless wings” are a cooking style and Berkheimer should have been more cautious as it’s “common knowledge that chickens have bones,” the Post reported. (RELATED: Judge Rules Tacos Are Mexican-Style Sandwiches In Unusual Decision: REPORT).
“A diner reading ‘boneless wings’ on a menu would no more believe that the restaurant was warranting the absence of bones in the items than believe that the items were made from chicken wings, just as a person eating ‘chicken fingers’ would know that he had not been served fingers,” Justice Joseph T. Deters reportedly wrote in the ruling.
Dissenting justices apparently said Deters’ argument was “utter jabberwocky,” the NYP reported.
‘Boneless’ chicken wings can have bones, Ohio top court rules as it rejects choking diner’s suit https://t.co/BmVeUDhmaQ pic.twitter.com/xeoNVo82Nk
— New York Post (@nypost) July 25, 2024
“The question must be asked: Does anyone really believe that the parents in this country who feed their young children boneless wings or chicken tenders or chicken nuggets or chicken fingers expect bones to be in the chicken? Of course they don’t,” dissenting Justice Michael P. Donnelly reportedly wrote.”When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think that it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people.”
The dissenting justices further argued a jury should have decided whether or not the local Ohio restaurant was negligent in serving chicken with a bone that was advertised as “boneless,” the NYP reported.
