Ohio
Lawmaker takes action after Ohio Supreme Court rules 'boneless' chicken wings can have bones
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a man who ordered boneless wings should have expected bones to be in them, denying him a jury trial after he suffered major injuries, including several surgeries and two medically induced comas. A state legislator is so outraged by the decision that he plans to propose a bill to change the law.
State Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) is an avid wing fan, having weekly wing nights with his friends when he was in college. Just recently, he went to an all-you-can-eat boneless wings event.
“I did not expect to have a bone in my boneless wings,” DeMora said.
But that isn’t how the state sees it.
Chicken wings advertised as ‘boneless’ can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decides
The case
Back in 2017, Michael Berkheimer ordered boneless wings at Wings on Brookwood in Southwest Ohio, according to his lawsuit filed in Butler County. The menu of the restaurant was included the court documents and did not feature any disclaimer saying bone fragments could be in the food. As of Friday, it still doesn’t.
He had cut up his wing into thirds, eating the first two pieces of it normally. On his third one, Berkheimer felt like something went down the wrong “pipe,” the court documents said. He ran to the restroom and tried to vomit, unsuccessfully. That night, he developed a fever, and for the next two days, he couldn’t eat a bite of food without throwing up, records state.
He was rushed to the ER with a 105-degree fever, the lawsuit states. Doctors found a 1 and 3/8 inch chicken bone in his throat, one that tore open the wall of his esophagus. From there, he developed a “massive infection in his thoracic cavity,” the document says.
“The severity of the infection, which centered on Mr. Berkheimer’s heart and lungs, required several surgeries, two medically induced comas, and a week-long stay in intensive care, followed by two-to-three additional weeks in the hospital,” the lawsuit states.
The medical issues are still ongoing, records state.
Berkheimer sued the restaurant and their chicken suppliers, arguing that the sellers’ “negligence” led to his injuries.
Both the Butler County Court of Common Pleas and the Twelfth District Court of Appeals sided against Berkheimer, arguing that “common sense dictated the presence of bone fragments in meat dishes,” according to the courts. Neither court let the case go to trial.
Supreme Court
On Thursday, the majority of the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the lower courts made the right decision, denying Berkheimer the ability to continue his lawsuit to a jury trial. The court was split four Republicans to three Democrats.
The justices were just supposed to decide whether or not it could go to trial, Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Entin said.
“The majority said no way this case shouldn’t go to trial at all because no reasonable consumer would think that boneless chicken wings might not have bones in them, especially since bones are part of chickens,” Entin explained.
The court didn’t believe a jury would rule in Berkheimer’s favor, he said.
In the majority opinion, Justice Joe Deters wrote that the restaurant wasn’t liable “when the consumer could have reasonably expected and guarded against the presence of the injurious substance in the food.”
Deters added that “boneless wings” are a cooking style, according to the opinion. He compared “boneless wings” to the food “chicken fingers,” noting that people would not actually think they are eating fingers.
The courts used the ‘Allen test’ method to determine negligence, which evaluates both if the harmful substance was foreign to the food or natural and whether the customer could reasonably guard against it. They found that the bone was natural and large in comparison to the piece of chicken.
“Any reasonable consumer should have been able to find it,” Entin said, explaining the court’s opinion.
The Democrats emphatically dissented.
“The result in this case is another nail in the coffin of the American jury system,” dissenting opinion author Justice Michael Donnelly said.
The case is merely about whether Berkheimer can have a jury of his peers decide if the restaurant and suppliers were negligent according to law, he said.
“The majority opinion makes a factual determination to ensure that a jury does not have a chance to apply something the majority opinion lacks— common sense,” the justice continued.
He continued on to explain that they didn’t have the full facts, being unable to see what the bone looked like.
“If it did, then I suggest that the majority suffers from a serious, perhaps disingenuous, lack of perspective,” the justice said.
The idea that the label “boneless wing” is a cooking style is “Jabberwocky,” the Democrat said, saying the absurdity of the opinion reads like a “Lewis Carroll piece of fiction.”
This could have ripple effects, Donnelly argued. For people who are nut, dairy or gluten-free, the court seemed to have decided that if they order allergy-free food, it could still have the allergen because that is “natural” to the food.
Deters responded to this, claiming it was different.
“But unlike the presence of the bone in this case, the presence of lactose or gluten in a food that was advertised as lactose-free or gluten-free is not something a consumer would customarily expect and be able to guard against,” Deters said.
It’s a lot harder to detect gluten or lactose than it is to detect a bone, Entin explained.
Reaction
This is insane, DeMora said.
“This defies logic, it defies reason, it defies common sense,” DeMora said. “Now the definition of boneless, according to the Ohio Supreme Court, means… it could have a bone.”
The justices are blocking Berkheimer from having a jury trial because they don’t care about the “regular Ohioan,” he said.
“You get screwed out of your day in court because we have to protect our donors and our corporations more than we protect our citizens,” the lawmaker said.
DeMora has already directed his team to start looking into what they can do to help Berkheimer and other Ohioans.
“We can’t really pass a law saying that boneless chicken means there’s no bones in it — Although maybe we can, I don’t know. If that’s possible, I’m gonna do it for sure.”
Regardless of that idea, he is also researching other consumer protection provisions he can draft bills around, he said.
Berkheimer’s attorney, Robb Stokar, agreed that this case wasn’t fair.
“I believe the dissent correctly wrote that the ruling was “another nail in the coffin of the American jury system.” Mr. Berkheimer suffered catastrophic injuries from a bone contained in a menu item unambiguously advertised as “boneless” at every level of commerce. All we asked is that a jury be able to make a commonsense determination as to whether he should be able to recover for his injuries. But the Court’s majority ruled otherwise, simultaneously denying him that opportunity, and rendering the word “boneless” completely meaningless,” Stokar told me.
Some of these justices are up for reelection, so Entin anticipates some politicos could put ads up about this decision — especially because Deters’ tone did not need to be as harsh as it was.
“You don’t have to get into all of the technical details of legal doctrine to be able to say this is a decision that shows that a majority of the current court are not sympathetic to ordinary people who get hurt through, basically, no fault of their own,” Entin said.
Deters, Donnelly and dissenting Justice Melody Stewart are all up for election in November.
“Boneless means without bones,” DeMora said. “I can’t understand the logic of the Republican majority.”
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The FBI was part of a search of multiple properties related to Stansley Mining on Friday, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed.
A Public Affairs Officer for the FBI Cleveland Division confirmed to the 13 Action News I-TEAM that authorities searched a business in the area of Siliva Road in Sylvania, as well as property in Ottawa County by State Route 590 in Benton Township.
Officials with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation told the 13 Action News I-TEAM that they executed a search warrant at the property in Benton Township. Ohio BCI’s environmental division and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency were involved in the search.
It’s unclear exactly what officials were looking for. The FBI spokesperson said there wasn’t additional information to share at this point, but added there is no threat to the public.
Stansley Mining is the entity that owns Rocky Ridge Development, a company at the center of extensive 13 Action News coverage after its South Toledo mining operation was improperly working in a residentially-zoned area.
Latest Local News | First Alert Weather | Crime | National | 13abc Originals
Copyright 2026 WTVG. All rights reserved.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A critically acclaimed name in Cleveland’s food scene is making a comeback of sorts and entering a new era in the food and restaurant business.
After the official closure of Melt Bar and Grilled locations across the area in late 2024, founder Matt Fish is stepping back into the restaurant business with a brand-new concept in Ohio City.
More Melts close
Fish is preparing to open “Proof Public House” inside the former Proof BBQ space along Lorain Avenue.
The new restaurant and bar is expected to officially open in mid-June after recently obtaining its food service license.
The announcement was just made on the restaurant’s official Instagram page this week.
But Fish says this project is very different from Melt’s previous projects, with more than a dozen locations across Ohio.
“I’m starting from scratch. Brand new concept. Brand new feeling, brand new attitude,” Fish said. “I wanna get back to basics.”
Fish describes Proof Public House as a punk rock-inspired neighborhood bar and restaurant with elevated comfort food, craft drinks, and an evolving seasonal menu.
“I’ve always wanted to get back to my roots,” Fish said. “I’ve always wanted to get back to a small place and recapture that magic of what Melt Bar and Grilled was when it first opened up.”
The longtime chef and restaurateur says music and creativity will help define the atmosphere and capture the essence.
Fish grew up on punk rock music and is also a drummer.
He says Cleveland’s history and punk rock roots make this latest project feel even more special.
The menu, he says, will feature chef-driven comfort food with rotating seasonal dishes and a specialized beverage program.
“Just have fun with the menu,” Fish said. “The beverage program will be very seasonal. It’s gonna be very evolving.”
Although many fans still associate Fish with the iconic grilled cheese sandwiches that helped make Melt Bar and Grilled a Northeast Ohio staple after opening in 2006, he says this new chapter is about moving forward.
“That part of my life is over and gone, but it was something special to so many of us,” Fish said.
Still, longtime Melt fans may notice subtle nods to the past.
Fish hinted there would be occasional “odes to Melt” appearing on the menu in the future, in some capacity.
He also credits former Proof BBQ and current Visible Voice Books owner Dave Ferrante for encouraging him to jump back into the hospitality business.
Fish quietly consulted on projects behind the scenes after Melt’s closure, including work connected to Visible Voice.
“I want to do something for myself, do something for the City of Cleveland, do something for my family and friends,” Fish said.
Proof Public House is expected to announce an official opening date soon.
News 5 promises to Follow-Through.
We Follow Through
Want us to continue to follow through on a story? Let us know.
Ohio, one of the nation’s data center destination hot spots, is suspending a tax break that has been critical to its competition with other states to attract the massive new facilities that power and train artificial intelligence chatbots.
The move Wednesday by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine comes as tax breaks for energy-hungry AI data centers are increasingly playing a role in state budgets and the industry is under pressure to pay the full costs of the vast network of its computing warehouses needed to power AI.
The size of Ohio’s tax break skyrocketed, dwarfing previous projections, as opposition to data centers is sweeping through cities, suburbs and towns there and prompting lawmakers to form a committee to study the impact.
In the meantime, residents are trying to bypass the GOP-controlled Legislature and get a referendum on November’s midterm election ballot that’s designed to permanently ban hyperscale data centers, likely the strictest such statewide ban under consideration in the U.S.
DeWine’s office cited the rising utilization of the tax break and the state Legislature’s new research undertaking to declare a “pause” in granting it to new applicants.
“The governor felt it was the right time to let the citizens know, let businesses know that we’re going to pause on new offers of this tax incentive while that process plays out,” DeWine’s spokesperson, Dan Tierney, said Thursday.
DeWine has stressed that he supports data centers — calling them a critical component in today’s economy — and that the roughly $37 billion in data center-related investments in 2024 and 2025 in the state has been worthwhile.
The state, in 2024, had used previous history in projecting that the exemption would total $136 million in fiscal 2025 and $142 million in fiscal 2026. It was $554 million in 2024 and nearly $1.6 billion in 2025, the state reported.
The resumption of Ohio’s tax break — should it resume — could happen under a new governor: DeWine is term-limited and the race is on to replace him. The Republican nominee, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy — an Ivy League-educated biotech billionaire — likes to talk about turning the Ohio River Valley into the next Silicon Valley.
However, Ramaswamy and Democratic nominee Amy Acton could share the midterm ballot in November with the citizen-led drive to ban the construction of data centers across Ohio. It faces a July 1 deadline to gather more than 400,000 voter signatures.
State tax breaks for the massive data center industry are facing growing criticism by governors and lawmakers.
The cost is likely rising as data center and AI-related investments drive higher consumer spending in the U.S. and tech giants keep boosting their spending commitment to hyperscale data centers.
In Virginia, negotiations between the state House and Senate have been hung up for months on a bid by Senate Democrats to eliminate the roughly $1.6 billion annual tax break.
Thirty-eight states have some form of a sales tax break for data centers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Many were approved more than five years ago, when data centers were a small, but growing part of the economy, and well before the late 2022 debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched an intensifying buildout of increasingly large data centers.
Ohio’s exemption is fairly broad, applying not only to construction materials, but to the expensive equipment — such as server racks and cooling systems — used in data centers. Operators might buy new server racks every couple of years as the technology improves.
DeWine’s order was a surprise.
Dorsey Hager, executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, where union members spend much of their time on data center projects, said he was upset with DeWine and trying to understand the governor’s reasons.
He worried, he said, that developers that were in the midst of trying to finalize plans or permits for a project might have second thoughts.
Lawmakers acknowledged the opposition in announcing their joint data center committee on May 13.
“We’re well aware of initiatives to limit Ohio data center development during this critical point in America’s history,” state Rep. Adam Holmes told a news conference. “This public concern has become a priority issue for us and could have dramatic impact on Ohio and American’s future.”
___
Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter
-
Oregon3 minutes ago
Oregon Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 4 results for May 29
-
Pennsylvania10 minutes agoCheers to summer: Try these Western Pennsylvania beers that pair perfectly with warm weather
-
Rhode Island12 minutes agoR.I. House Finance budget phases in millionaires tax over three years – The Boston Globe
-
South-Carolina13 minutes agoSouth Carolina Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 results for May 29, 2026
-
South Dakota25 minutes agoHow to watch South Dakota State vs. Arizona State baseball today, time
-
Tennessee28 minutes agoWhat channel is Tennessee softball vs Texas Tech on today? Time, TV schedule to watch WCWS game
-
Texas33 minutes agoUSC squanders late lead, falls to Texas State in NCAA regional opener
-
Utah39 minutes agoDHHS issues emergency actions against Utah behavioral school attended by Paris Hilton
