The Ohio Supreme Court recently conducted oral arguments to deliberate the potential liability of a restaurant and its food supplier over a consumer’s unfortunate incident of swallowing an inch and a half-long bone found in his so-called ‘boneless’ chicken wings. The court will have to decide whether the case should proceed to a jury.
The legal proceedings were instigated by Michael Berkheimer who sued REKM, the company behind Wings on Brookwood, its food supplier GFS, and Wayne Farms, the manufacturer of the chicken product, for an alleged injury he sustained after ingesting the unexpected bone. An appeal was made to the state high court following the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals’ affirmation of the trial court’s summary judgment order in favor of the defendants.
Interestingly, the implicated chicken product is the same one regularly produced and sold across Ohio under various names such as chicken tender, finger, and strip. The distinction between these variations and ‘boneless’ wings has been called into question, with the defendant’s advocate pointing out that common sense should factor in the reasonable expectation test.
More insights on this developing story can be gleaned from the detailed report here.