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Judge Rules Boneless Wings Can Keep Their “Wings” Title, Dismissing Deception Lawsuit
A federal judge in Illinois has ruled that boneless chicken wings can indeed be marketed as “wings,” siding with Buffalo Wild Wings in a lawsuit brought by a customer claiming he was misled. The decision, handed down on Tuesday by U.S.
District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr., puts to rest the debate over whether these popular menu items are simply glorified nuggets.
The 10-page ruling dismissed a lawsuit filed by Aimen Halim, who argued he was deceived during a 2023 visit to Buffalo Wild Wings. Halim’s complaint stated that the “boneless wings” offered by the restaurant were not actual chicken wings, but rather slices of chicken breast meat, more akin to a chicken nugget. He sought punitive damages and the disgorgement of the company’s profits, alleging that consumers were “unbeknownst” to the true composition of the product.
However, Judge Tharp found Halim’s arguments lacked “meat on its bones.” In his ruling, Tharp highlighted that “words can have multiple meanings,” pointing out that “buffalo wing” refers to the sauce, not the animal.
He also addressed the restaurant’s argument about cauliflower wings, noting that “If Halim is right, reasonable consumers should think that cauliflower wings are made (at least in part) from wing meat. They don’t, though.”
The judge also dismissed the notion that consumers would expect a deboned, “reconstituted into some sort of Franken-wing” product when ordering boneless wings. He concluded that while Halim had standing to bring the claim due to a plausible economic injury, he failed to plausibly allege that “reasonable consumers are fooled by BWW’s use of the term ‘boneless wings.'”
Buffalo Wild Wings had countered Halim’s claims by arguing that many “literally false statements are not deceptive” and by citing the existence of cauliflower wings as another example of a “wing” alternative.
As of now, neither Buffalo Wild Wings nor Halim’s attorneys have provided a reaction to the judge’s decision.