Current:Home > MarketsChicken wings advertised as ‘boneless’ can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decides-LoTradeCoin
Chicken wings advertised as ‘boneless’ can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decides
View Date:2024-12-23 23:25:03
Consumers cannot expect boneless chicken wings to actually be free of bones, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting claims by a restaurant patron who suffered serious medical complications from getting a bone stuck in his throat.
Michael Berkheimer was dining with his wife and friends at a wing joint in Hamilton, Ohio, and had ordered the usual — boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce — when he felt a bite-size piece of meat go down the wrong way. Three days later, feverish and unable to keep food down, Berkeimer went to the emergency room, where a doctor discovered a long, thin bone that had torn his esophagus and caused an infection.
Berkheimer sued the restaurant, Wings on Brookwood, saying the restaurant failed to warn him that so-called “boneless wings” — which are, of course, nuggets of boneless, skinless breast meat — could contain bones. The suit also named the supplier and the farm that produced the chicken, claiming all were negligent.
In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court said Thursday that “boneless wings” refers to a cooking style, and that Berkheimer should’ve been on guard against bones since it’s common knowledge that chickens have bones. The high court sided with lower courts that had dismissed Berkheimer’s suit.
“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 wrote for the majority.
The dissenting justices called Deters’ reasoning “utter jabberwocky,” and said a jury should’ve been allowed to decide whether the restaurant was negligent in serving Berkheimer a piece of chicken that was advertised as boneless.
“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,” Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote in dissent. “When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think that it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people.”
veryGood! (69)
Related
- Jerry Jones lashes out at question about sun's glare at AT&T Stadium after Cowboys' loss
- Beyoncé tour sales are off to a smoother start. What does that mean for Ticketmaster?
- More evacuations in Los Angeles County neighborhood impacted by landslide as sewer breaks
- This Jennifer Aniston Editing Error From a 2003 Friends Episode Will Have You Doing a Double Take
- Louisiana man kills himself and his 1-year-old daughter after a pursuit
- How Asia's ex-richest man lost nearly $50 billion in just over a week
- These $19 Lounge Shorts With Pockets Have 13,300+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews
- Beyoncé tour sales are off to a smoother start. What does that mean for Ticketmaster?
- Conviction and 7-year sentence for Alex Murdaugh’s banker overturned in appeal of juror’s dismissal
- This Jennifer Aniston Editing Error From a 2003 Friends Episode Will Have You Doing a Double Take
Ranking
- Full House Star Dave Coulier Shares Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Diagnosis
- Beyoncé's Renaissance tour is Ticketmaster's next big test. Fans are already stressed
- We asked the new AI to do some simple rocket science. It crashed and burned
- These $19 Lounge Shorts With Pockets Have 13,300+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews
- All the Ways Megan Fox Hinted at Her Pregnancy With Machine Gun Kelly
- Biden says he's serious about prisoner exchange to free detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich
- Warming Trends: Katharine Hayhoe Talks About Hope, Potty Training Cows, and Can Woolly Mammoths Really Fight Climate Change?
- Paravel Travel Must-Haves Are What Everyone’s Buying for Summer Getaways
Recommendation
-
A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
-
4.9 million Fabuloso bottles are recalled over the risk of bacteria contamination
-
Are You Ready? The Trailer for Zoey 102 Is Officially Here
-
Man accused of trying to stab flight attendant, open door mid-flight deemed not competent to stand trial, judge rules
-
Inside Dream Kardashian's Sporty 8th Birthday Party
-
Warming Trends: Climate Clues Deep in the Ocean, Robotic Bee Hives and Greenland’s Big Melt
-
Inside Clean Energy: What’s a Virtual Power Plant? Bay Area Consumers Will Soon Find Out.
-
Inside Clean Energy: How Soon Will An EV Cost the Same as a Gasoline Vehicle? Sooner Than You Think.