A divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that consumers should not expect boneless wings to be free of bones.
The 4-3 decision came after a restaurant guest filed a lawsuit. He suffered serious medical complications when a bone from a boneless wing got stuck in his throat.
Michael Berkheimer was dining with his wife and friends in Hamilton, Ohio. He ordered his usual: boneless wings with Parmesan garlic sauce.
While eating, he felt a bite-size piece go down the wrong way. Three days later, he was feverish and unable to keep food down.
At the emergency room, a doctor discovered a long, thin bone. It had torn his esophagus and caused an infection.
Berkheimer sued the restaurant, Wings on Brookwood. He claimed they failed to warn him that "boneless wings" could contain bones.
His lawsuit named the wing supplier and the farm that produced the chicken. He accused them of being negligent.
The court decided "boneless wings" refers to a cooking style. They said Berkheimer should have been on guard against bones since chickens have bones.
Lower courts had dismissed Berkheimer’s suit. The high court's decision sided with these previous rulings.
"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," wrote Justice Joseph T. Deters.
The judges siding with Berkheimer called Deters’ reasoning "utter jabberwocky." They said a jury should decide if the restaurant was negligent.
Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote in dissent, "Does anyone really believe that the parents who feed their young children boneless wings expect bones? Of course they don’t. When they read 'boneless,' they think it means 'without bones,' as do all sensible people."