On “Varney & Co.”, “The Big Money Show” co-host Brian Bremberg shows how inflation under President Biden has made life more unaffordable for Americans.
In a split decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that consumers shouldn’t expect boneless wings to be boneless.
The 4-3 decision came after a restaurant patron sued after choking on a boneless chicken wing, causing serious complications.
The Associated Press reported that Michael Berkheimer was dining with his wife and friends at a wing joint in Hamilton, Ohio, when they ordered their usual boneless wings with Parmesan-garlic sauce.
As he was eating, Berkheimer felt a bite-sized piece of meat go the wrong way.
Chick-fil-A switches to antibiotic-free chicken
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that boneless chicken wings can have the bone in them. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto, Getty Images)
Three days later, Berkheimer developed a fever and was unable to vomit food, so he went to the emergency room, where doctors discovered a long, thin bone that had torn his esophagus and caused an infection.
Berkheimer sued the Wings on Brookwood restaurant, alleging that the restaurant failed to warn her that “boneless wings” might contain bones, even though she understood the items to be boneless chunks of chicken.
Berkheimer’s lawsuit names the wing supplier and the farm that produced the chicken, accusing them of negligence.
Costco’s rotisserie chicken changes infuriate customers
Judge’s gavel in a courtroom. (iStock/iStock)
In its ruling Thursday, the court said “boneless chicken wings” refers to a cooking method and that since it’s common knowledge that chickens have bones, Berkheimer should have been on guard against the bones.
Lower courts had dismissed Burkheimer’s lawsuit, and the high court’s latest decision upheld an earlier ruling.
Chipotle CEO speaks out about burrito bowl portion sizes after backlash
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that boneless chicken wings can have the bone in them. (Photo by Michael P. Farrell/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
“Just as a customer who sees ‘boneless chicken wings’ on a menu is not likely to assume that the dish is made with chicken wings, he or she is not likely to assume that a restaurant is guaranteeing that the dish is boneless, any more than a customer who eats ‘chicken fingers’ is likely to know that no fingers are being served,” Justice Joseph T. Deters wrote in the majority opinion.
But the judges sided with Berkheimer, calling Deters’ reasoning “complete nonsense” and saying it should have been up to a jury to decide whether the restaurant was negligent.
For more information on FOX Business, click here
“Does anyone really believe that parents in this country who feed boneless chicken wings, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets and chicken fingers to their young children expect that there will be bones in the chicken? Of course not,” Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote in his dissenting opinion. “When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they assume, like all reasonable people, that it means ‘boneless.'”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
