Lawsuit Claims Buffalo Wild Wings Falsely Advertised ‘Boneless Wings’: ‘More Akin … to Chicken Nuggets’

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Buffalo Wild Wings by a man from Chicago who claims the restaurant chain is engaging in “a clear-cut case of false advertising” by labeling some of its menu items “boneless wings,” which the lawsuit claims are “more akin, in composition, to a chicken nugget rather than a chicken wing.”

The complaint was filed by Aimen Halim against the restaurant and Inspire Brands Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois. According to court documents, Halim alleges the “boneless wings” are actually “slices of chicken breast meat deep-fried like wings.” 

“Had Plaintiff and other consumers known that the Products are not actually chicken wings, they would have paid less for them, or would not have purchased them at all,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit claims the plaintiff “discovered Defendants’ breach of express Warranty” in January and had “suffered a financial injury as a result of Defendants’ false and deceptive conduct.”

A New York Times article cited in the lawsuit noted that some restaurants began switching to selling boneless “wings” as real chicken wings became more expensive relative to the cost of breast meat:

[I]n restaurants from Sarasota to Seattle, an improbable poultry part is showing up on menus: a little chunk of chicken breast that is fried and sauced and sold, with marketer’s brio, as a “boneless wing.” All this is happening because wholesale chicken prices have turned upside down. The once-lowly wing is selling at a premium over what has long been the gold standard of poultry parts, the skinless boneless chicken breast.

The lawsuit argued that the restaurant could have followed some of its competitors in using terms like “‘Boneless Chicken’ or ‘Chicken poppers,’ rather than ‘Boneless Wings,’ to prevent consumers from being misled.”

Business Insider reported the plaintiff had filed “at least three other class-action lawsuits” in the past, including against the maker of the Kind granola bar brand for using the description “high in fiber” on the label, which he reportedly claims is inaccurate.

In another case, which was reportedly dismissed in August, he filed a suit against the market of Hefty trash bags for describing its products as “recycling bags,” claiming that the bags are not actually recyclable, per Business Insider.