US court rules that ‘boneless wings’ can have bones

US court rules that ‘boneless wings’ can have bones

On Thursday (25 July), a US court ruled that consumers cannot expect ‘boneless chicken wings’ to be without bones.

The ruling comes after a consumer in Ohio choked on a piece of bone present in a ‘boneless wings’ dish he ordered, leading to medical complications.

The incident occurred in 2016, when Michael Berkheimer went to Wings on Brookwood — a restaurant in Hamilton, Ohio.

Man underwent surgeries after choking on bones in ‘bonelss wings’

According to court documents, Mr Berkheimer was a regular at the restaurant.

However, when he felt ill after a meal there, he visited the emergency department where doctors found a bone stuck in his throat.

The bone reportedly tore through his oesophagus and caused an infection, reported NPR. The customer had to undergo two surgeries as a result.

Mr Berkheimer subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming the restaurant failed to warn him that the ‘boneless wings’ could contain bones.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed but was brought to the Supreme Court after multiple appeals were filed.

Ohio Supreme Court rules 4-3 that restaurant is not liable for injury

In a closely-tied ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled against Mr Berkheimer, saying that ‘boneless wings’ refers to a cooking style. The ruling also stated that Mr Berkheimer should’ve been aware and careful of bones since it is common knowledge that chickens have bones.

Justice Joseph T. Deters said in the majority opinion that customers seeing boneless wings on a menu wouldn’t expect it to be boneless, just as they wouldn’t expect chicken fingers to contain fingers.

Judges in the minority, however, called the ruling “utter jabberwocky”.

“When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think that it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people,” said Justice Michael P. Donnelly.

Also read: Woman finds metal wire in chicken from Tan Tock Seng Hospital Kopitiam, stall offers full refund

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Featured image adapted from Unsplash and Wikimedia Commons. Image on the left is for illustration purposes only.