Lisa K. Day v. on Appeal From the United States District Ingle’s Markets, Inc., Court for the…

The Honorable John G. Heyburn, II, United States District Judge for the Western District*
of Kentucky, sitting by designation.
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NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
File Name: 07a0457n.06
Filed: June 28, 2007
NO. 06-5345
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
LISA K. DAY,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v. ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
INGLE’S MARKETS, INC., COURT FOR THE EASTERN
DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
Defendant-Appellant.
____________________________________________/
BEFORE: SUHRHEINRICH and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges; and HEYBURN, District
Judge.*
PER CURIAM. Plaintiff-Appellee Lisa Day (“Day”) filed this state malicious prosecution
claim under Tennessee law against her former employer, Defendant-Appellant Ingle’s Markets, Inc.
(“Ingle’s Markets”), after she was acquitted of a state criminal theft charge initiated by Ingle’s
Markets. A jury trial on the malicious prosecution claim resulted in a verdict in Day’s favor, and she
was awarded compensatory and punitive damages in the amounts of $500,000.00 and $2,500,000.00,
respectively, against Ingle’s Markets. On January 25, 2006, the district court entered an order
denying Ingle’s Markets’s post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law, or, in the alternative,
for a new trial or for remittitur.
Ingle’s Markets appeals from the district court’s judgment and post-trial order, contending

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that the district court erred in: (1) failing to enter judgment as a matter of law for Ingle’s Markets on
the basis that the probable cause element of Day’s malicious prosecution claim was res judicata; (2)
awarding punitive damages; (3) finding sufficient evidence in support of Day’s claim; and (4) failing
to find the damage award excessive.
Having had the benefit of oral argument and having reviewed the parties’ briefs and
applicable law, we conclude that the matter should be affirmed for the reasons stated in the district
court’s well-reasoned opinion dated January 25, 2006, Day v. Ingle’s Markets, Inc., No.
2:01-CV-325, 2006 WL 239290 (E.D. Tenn. Jan. 25, 2006).
SO ORDERED.

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