Ohio Supreme Court rules boneless chicken does not mean chicken without bones

Earlier this year, the state Supreme Court of Ohio ruled against a man suing an Ohio restaurant after a chicken bone in his “boneless” chicken tore a hole in his esophagus.

The Ohio Supreme Court noted the patron “could have reasonably expected to find a bone in his meal and guarded against swallowing it.”

The suit was first filed in 2017 by Michael Berkheimer against Wings on Brookwood after Berkheimer suffered injuries from swallowing a 1-and-3/8-inch “sliver of bone” in his “boneless” wing, Court News Ohio reported.

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The case was brought to the Supreme Court after a lower court dismissed his case and found neither the restaurant nor its suppliers were responsible for Berkheimer’s injuries.

Court Justice Joseph T. Deters explained “boneless wings,” are a cooking style and does not mean that pieces of chicken bones would not be in a dish.

A video of the court proceeding is available here.

According to Court News Ohio, Berkheimer dined at the restaurant with his wife and friends in 2016.

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He ordered “his usual,” — boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce.

The statement reads “Berkheimer followed his normal practice of cutting each boneless wing into two or three pieces.

“He was eating the third piece of a wing when he felt ‘a piece of meat [go] down the wrong pipe.’”

When he went to the bathroom to clear his throat, Berkheimer was unsuccessful. Over the course of three days, he spiked a fever and had trouble eating.

After an emergency room visit, a doctor found a thin chicken bone “lodged in his esophagus.”

Medical records show the bone was five centimeters long.

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The suit charges the bone tore his esophagus, caused a bacterial infection and led to ongoing medical issues.

After the trial court determined “common sense dictated the presence of bone fragments in meat dishes,” Berkheimer appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court which heard the case and found the trial court was correct in its initial ruling.