OAN Staff James Meyers
9:53 AM – Friday, July 26, 2024
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that boneless wings can have bones in them.
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In the ruling, the Ohio Court rejected claims by a restaurant customer who suffered serious medical complications from getting a bone stuck in his throat.
The decision comes in the case of Michael Berkheimer, who in 2016 was chowing down on his regular order, boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce, at an Ohio restaurant called ‘Wings on Brookwood,’ when he felt like some meat went down the wrong pipe, according to legal documents in the case.
In the next few days, Berkheimer developed a fever and was unable to keep food down, which caused him to visit the emergency room. Doctors found a 5-centimeter piece of chicken bone lodged in his esophagus. The lodged bone led to a bacterial infection in his thoracic cavity and lingering medical problems, including difficulty breathing.
Berkheimer claimed that the restaurant’s menu had no warning to indicate that its boneless wings could actually contain bones. He sued for negligence and breach of warranty in his multiple claims.
Despite his claims, in Thursday’s 4-3 ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court stated that “boneless” wings refers to a cooking style, and that Berkheimer should have been on guard against bones since it’s known that chickens have bones.
“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,” wrote Justice Joseph T. Deters for the majority.
He added, “The food item’s label on the menu described a cooking style; it was not a guarantee.”
However, judges who voted in Berheimer’s favor claimed that a jury should have decided the case.
“Jurors likely have eaten boneless wings, some will have fed boneless wings to their children, and jurors have common sense,” Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote. “They will be able to determine, better than any court, what a consumer reasonably expects when ordering boneless wings.”
He added, “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.”
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