Ohio Supreme Court Says 'Boneless' Wings Don’t Actually Have to Be Free of Bones

In a 4-3 Ohio Supreme Court ruling, one restaurant patron didn't have much of a case against a wing spot in Hamilton, Ohio.

According to various news sources, Michael Berkheimer sued Wings on Brookwood, a restaurant that he'd previously visited, after a bone from his order of boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce went down his throat in 2016. One day after the dining experience, Berkheimer fell ill and went to the emergency room, where a doctor found that a bone tore through his esophagus and caused an infection.

In his lawsuit aganist Wings on Brookwood, where the restaurant's chicken supplier was also named, Berkheimer said that the establishment neglected to mention that the wings could contain bones.

In agreeance with the trial court, which dismissed the case, the Ohio Supreme Court served a 4-3 ruling that referred to the boneless wings cooking style, not that the wings are actually boneless.

"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 on behalf of the Court majority, per NPR.