In Jones v. Kmart Corp. (1998) 17 Cal.4th 329, a Kmart customer who was suspected of shoplifting was involuntarily seized and searched. He sued for damages under Civil Code section 52.1, subdivision (b), alleging that Kmart had violated his federal and state constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure. But the actions of the Kmart security guards were actions of private citizens and "the state played no role in causing Jones's losses." (Jones, at p. 333.) The California Supreme Court said: "Plaintiffs are correct that there is no state action requirement per se. Section 52.1 nowhere mentions state action. But section 52.1 does require an attempted or completed act of interference with a legal right, accompanied by a form of coercion. Plaintiffs produced no evidence that defendants interfered with plaintiff's rights against unreasonable search and seizure. When they assert that defendants interfered with those rights by directly violating them, they are mistaken: Only the government or its agents can do so." (Jones, at pp. 333-334.)