A federal judge in Illinois found that Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) can still call "boneless wings," boneless wings.
"Buffalo Wild Wings sells a product it calls 'boneless wings,' which are essentially chicken nuggets: pieces of chicken breast meat, deep-fried and tossed in whatever sauce or dry seasoning the customer wants," Tharp wrote. "Halim, apparently, found this confusing. He claims that he thought boneless wings were real chicken wings with the bones removed. He says BWW’s product should be called something different, something like 'chicken poppers.' Halim sued BWW over his confusion, but his complaint has no meat on its bones."
Halim ordered boneless wings at a BWW location in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, thinking they were chicken wing fillets. But it was unclear how they were prepared or what exactly he was expecting. Nevertheless, he alleged that using the term "boneless wings" to describe chicken breast nuggets was deceptive, and he sued for violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, breach of express warranty, common law fraud, and unjust enrichment; he sought to bring a class-action suit against the chain on behalf of people who were allegedly deceived by the branding.
Tharp conceded that Halim had standing to bring a claim on the basis of economic harm, since he spent money he would not otherwise have.
However, he sided with BWW on the factual claims. BWW claims that the term "boneless wings" refers not to the actual piece of meat but the preparation style; just as the term "buffalo wings" refers to the sauce used on the wings, not that they contain actual buffalo meat. He also refuted Halim's argument that boneless wings are an alternative to wings, and as such should be made of wing meat: cauliflower wings are also presented as alternatives on the menu, and cauliflower do not have wings.
"A reasonable consumer would not think that BWW’s boneless wings were truly deboned chicken wings, reconstituted into some sort of Franken-wing," Tharp wrote.
The judge said a reasonable consumer would not arrive at that conclusion because "boneless wings" are cheaper; were they made of de-boned wings, it would take more work and therefore cost more. The chain has offered boneless wings since 2003. As such, Halim's claim is unreasonable as a matter of law.
"Despite his best efforts, Halim did not 'drum' up enough factual allegations to state a claim," Tharp said. "Though he has standing to bring the claim because he plausibly alleged economic injury, he does not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers are fooled by BWW’s use of the term 'boneless wings.'”
Tharp contended that amending the complaint would be futile, but granted him leave to file any additional factual allegations that might help his case by March 26.