Ohio Supreme Court rules boneless chicken wings can have bones

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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.
 
Wait, what? If I order boneless wings, then they should be boneless. Who would interpret "boneless" to be a cooking style? It can't be a cooking style because it's referring to the composition of the ingredients, not their preparation.
 
Wait, what? If I order boneless wings, then they should be boneless. Who would interpret "boneless" to be a cooking style? It can't be a cooking style because it's referring to the composition of the ingredients, not their preparation.
While I agree interpreting “boneless” to be a cooking style is ludicrous, I also think it is overreaching to expect a restaurant to inspect every chicken tender for potential bones that make it through the mechanized preparation process in some faraway poultry processing plant. We’ve all probably found small bones in a “boneless skinless chicken breast.” Should we sue if we swallow a bone in a salmon filet?

My question how did this case get this far? And I know on a board full of attorneys I’m about to be put on blast.
 
While I agree interpreting “boneless” to be a cooking style is ludicrous, I also think it is overreaching to expect a restaurant to inspect every chicken tender for potential bones that make it through the mechanized preparation process in some faraway poultry processing plant. We’ve all probably found small bones in a “boneless skinless chicken breast.” Should we sue if we swallow a bone in a salmon filet?

My question how did this case get this far? And I know on a board full of attorneys I’m about to be put on blast.
The standard for a successful tort suit would be negligence. If it's unreasonable to expect a restaurant to inspect every chicken tender, then the restaurant won't be found negligent and there wouldn't be liability. That's how the lawsuit should be decided. Not because boneless wings can have bones.
 
This is the second time tonight I've had occasion to reflect on how smart people are often just incredibly stupid.

"Boneless wings" is a cooking style? What in the actual ****?
 

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Wait, what? If I order boneless wings, then they should be boneless. Who would interpret "boneless" to be a cooking style? It can't be a cooking style because it's referring to the composition of the ingredients, not their preparation.
Is it s chicken wing if I get a leg?
 

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.
They'll need to put a disclaimer on the packaging and the menus. It's just like "pitted olives" or "pit-less olives" or whatever you call them. On the bottles or cans, there is a disclaimer in very fine print "may contain pits or pit traces"
 
They'll need to put a disclaimer on the packaging and the menus. It's just like "pitted olives" or "pit-less olives" or whatever you call them. On the bottles or cans, there is a disclaimer in very fine print "may contain pits or pit traces"
The whole point of this ruling is that they don't have to put a disclaimer on the packaging.
 
Unfortunately when I started real estate the contract was one page.
Everything on the front as in price closing date and all the takeaways on the back. Used to say the big print giveth and the small print taketh away. Now I think we're up to 13 pages trying to anticipate all the caveat emptor that could occur. Truth is it's like Democrats and Republicans and basically everyone in America if we don't try to screw each other then good deals get done we try to screw each other we need regulations in place to stop that s***.
 
Unfortunately when I started real estate the contract was one page.
Everything on the front as in price closing date and all the takeaways on the back. Used to say the big print giveth and the small print taketh away. Now I think we're up to 13 pages trying to anticipate all the caveat emptor that could occur. Truth is it's like Democrats and Republicans and basically everyone in America if we don't try to screw each other then good deals get done we try to screw each other we need regulations in place to stop that s***.
Unfortunately when I started real estate the contract was one page.
Everything on the front as in price closing date and all the takeaways on the back. Used to say the big print giveth and the small print taketh away. Now I think we're up to 13 pages trying to anticipate all the caveat emptor that could occur. Truth is it's like Democrats and Republicans and basically everyone in America if we don't try to screw each other then good deals get done we try to screw each other we need regulations in place to stop that s***.
I sold my house a couple years ago Agent , Lawyers-real normal A couple days after closing the Agent emailed me that I had not written a check for $1,000 to the buyers for Insurance on my Furnance . I mean we closed . But hell yea I mailed the new owners a check for $1,000 because we had agreed I would do that
My older brother was furious at me when I told him I wrote the check-like I was a real dumbarse
Whatever lol
 
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I haven't praticed in this area in a long time but the rule in NC used to be that if it occurs naturally in the food you are eating, you don't have any recourse. If I remember correctly, the case that set the precedent involved someone breaking a tooth on a giant piece of rock hard gristle in a Wendy's hamburger. They lost because cheap beef naturally has some gristle. Back when I did PI most of the cases involving injuries from food were pretty much losers for one reason or another.
 
It makes you wonder why no fish bones are found in a filet-o-fish at MickyDs.

Ever eat a real fish filet? Always expect a few small bones. It’s natural.

Who ever heard of a boneless chicken anyway?

Buyer beware. Especially in Ohio.
 
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