The Ohio State Supreme Court has issued a shocking ruling in the case of a man who suffered horrific injuries after making a disgusting discovery in his boneless chicken wings.
Michael Berkheimer was enjoying a meal with his wife and some friends when he ordered what has been described as his “regular restaurant fare” at Wings on Brookwood in Hamilton in 2016.
He was eating the boneless wings with garlic parmesan sauce with a fork and knife when he said he felt something in his throat.
At first, Berkheimer said he didn’t think much of it, attributing the lump in his throat to the chicken wing having gone “down the wrong channel.” he told Fox 19.
But three days later, he started having a fever and was sent to the emergency room.
Michael Berkheimer suffered serious injuries after eating what he thought were boneless chicken wings in 2016
Doctors discovered that a piece of a wing wishbone had lodged in his throat and pierced his esophagus.
There, doctors discovered that a piece of a wing wishbone had lodged in his throat and pierced his esophagus.
Everything he ate began to leak out of his body through the hole into his chest cavity, where it caused an infection.
“I had a softball-sized buildup of bacteria in my chest cavity over my heart,” Berkheimer said.
He then suffered a heart attack, which collapsed one of his lungs, and he was in a coma twice.
Berkheimer is still suffering the consequences on her body and has seen a psychiatrist for the trauma she suffered.
“It traumatized me. It took away the joy from my family,” she said.
“Thank God for the Lord and for my wife, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
Berkheimer (pictured before his injuries) sued the local restaurant and its suppliers, accusing them of negligence.
The Ohio State Supreme Court has since ruled that the term “boneless wings” refers only to the “style of cooking” and should not be taken seriously.
Following the near-death encounter, Berkheimer sued the restaurant and its suppliers for negligence.
Their attorney, Rob Stokar, said the judge dismissed their first lawsuit, but they appealed and it eventually reached the Ohio Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the court ruled 4-3 that the term “boneless wings” refers only to the “style of cooking” and should not be taken seriously.
‘A diner reading “boneless wings” on a menu would no more believe that the restaurant guaranteed the absence of bones in the dishes than he or she would believe that the dishes were made with chicken wings, just as a person eating “chicken fingers” would know that no fingers had been served,’ Justice Joseph T. Deters wrote for the majority.
But other justices disagreed, with one calling the majority opinion “complete gibberish.”
“One has to ask: Does anyone really believe that parents in this country who feed their young children boneless chicken wings, chicken strips, chicken nuggets, or chicken fingers expect the chicken to have bones? Of course not,” wrote Judge Michael P. Donnelly.
«When they read the word “boneless” they think it means “without bones,” as every sensible person does.»
The opposition argued that the decision should have been left to a jury.
The owners of Wings on Brookwood welcomed the ruling, saying they were glad the case was finally over and hoped the decision would protect other small businesses from what they described as “frivolous lawsuits.”
The owners of Wings on Brookwood welcomed the ruling, saying they were glad the case was finally over and hoped the decision would protect other small businesses from what they described as “frivolous lawsuits.”
But Ohio state Sen. Bill DeMora said he now plans to introduce legislation to ensure anyone in a similar situation can present their case to a jury.
“It was outrageous. It lacked any common sense,” the Democrat said of the ruling.
He said he has asked the Legislative Service Commission to draft a possible bill that would ensure “people have their day in court” rather than having appellate judges make the decisions.
However, the Ohio legislature is unlikely to take action on the measure before the November election.
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