A US federal judge threw out a lawsuit against Buffalo Wild Wings, accusing the restaurant and sports bar chain of selling chicken nuggets, calling them boneless wings. The complaint was filed in 2023 by one Aimen Halim, who claimed that he was misled into purchasing chicken nuggets instead of what he assumed would be de-boned chicken wings due to the name.
Boneless wings or nuggets?
Halim alleged that the marketing and advertising of “boneless wings” is false, duping consumers in violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, among other claims.
According to the complaint, he went to a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in January 2023 and expected to receive “wings that were deboned.” He argued that Buffalo Wild Wings’ product should be called something different, like “chicken poppers.”
However, US District Judge John Tharp Jr. in Chicago dismissed the proposed class action lawsuit.
‘Complaint has no meat on its bones’
“Halim sued (Buffalo Wild Wings) over his confusion, but his complaint has no meat on its bones,” Tharp wrote in his ruling.
“Despite his best efforts, Halim did not ‘drum’ up enough factual allegations to state a claim,” the judge added.
Tharp said reasonable consumers are not deceived into thinking boneless wings are truly made of wing meat. “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 added.
Despite granting the chain’s request to dismiss the case, Tharp gave Halim until March 20 to amend his lawsuit to present any additional facts that would allow the case to go ahead.
Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings, which was established in 1982, specializes in Buffalo-style chicken wings and operates over 1,300 locations globally.
Buffalo Wild Wings, which claims to be the “World’s Largest Sports Bar,” also has a small presence in India, operating eight outlets in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
