‘Expect bones’ when you order boneless chicken, Ohio Supreme Court rules
If you find a bone in an order of boneless wings, you shouldn’t be surprised — at least, that’s according to the Ohio Supreme Court.
The ruling came after a man went to a restaurant in Butler County with his wife and a few friends in 2016. He ordered his usual, boneless chicken wings with Parmesan garlic sauce. But when he went to eat a third wing, he felt “a piece of meat [go] down the wrong pipe,” according to Court News Ohio, a service of the state Supreme Court.
The man went to the restroom to “clear his throat” but couldn’t. In the next few days, he had a fever and trouble eating. The man went to a hospital and found there was a thin chicken bone “lodged” into his throat, according to the court.
The bone was about 1 ⅜ inches.
The man later filed a lawsuit against the restaurant stating the bone tore his esophagus and caused a bacterial infection. However, a chef at the restaurant said the chicken was bought “pre-cut boneless” and they simply cut the breasts into one-inch chunks.
A trial court ruled in favor of the restaurant, stating that “common sense dictated the presence of bone fragments in meat dishes.”
The man appealed the ruling but the Twelfth District Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision. He then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.
In a 4-3 vote it ultimately ruled alongside the lower courts’ decisions: Even a boneless wing can, indeed, contain bones.
Justice Michael P. Donnelly, who disagreed with the ruling, stated in a dissenting opinion that a jury should decide “what a customer should reasonably expect when ordering a dish advertised as boneless,” Court News Ohio reported.
“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. When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people,” Donnelly said in the dissenting opinion.
However, the majority of justices determined that “boneless” means “you should expect bones.”
In the end, the court ruled that the restaurant was not liable for the man’s injuries and that boneless wings are a “cooking style” and not a guarantee when you go for a bite.
This story was originally published July 25, 2024 at 1:25 PM with the headline "‘Expect bones’ when you order boneless chicken, Ohio Supreme Court rules."
