Boneless wings can stay on the menu at Buffalo Wild Wings, bones or no bones. In a 10-page decision, US District Judge John Tharp in Illinois dismissed a lawsuit claiming the chain was misleading customers by selling "boneless wings" that are, in his words, "essentially chicken nuggets." The suit was filed in 2023 by customer Aimen Halim, who argued the labeling violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act and that he expected deboned actual wings, not breaded chunks of chicken meat, per NBC News.
Tharp ruled the case didn't show that reasonable diners are being duped, calling "boneless wings" a widely used term that's been around for more than 20 years. "Boneless wings are not a niche product for which a consumer would need to do extensive research to figure out the truth," he wrote in his ruling, adding that Halim didn't have "enough factual allegations" to support his claim, even though he did plausibly allege an economic injury. Halim had claimed that, had he known the truth about what the boneless wings were, he maybe wouldn't have bought them, reports the New York Times.
Per NBC, the judge cited a 2024 Ohio Supreme Court decision that said a customer ordering "boneless wings" wouldn't assume the dish literally comes from chicken wings, "just as a person eating 'chicken fingers' would know that he had not been served fingers." He pointed out that the chain also has "cauliflower wings" on the menu, and that "reasonable consumers" wouldn't think that product was made with wing meat. Tharp's conclusion: Halim's complaint "has no meat on its bones." Tharp gave Halim until March 20 to revise his complaint with more specific facts about his experience that might show a deceptive practice, though the judge was skeptical Halim would be able to do so, per USA Today. Buffalo Wild Wings didn't immediately comment.
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