Supreme Court Rejects Verizon's $47 Million FCC Fine Refund Bid

Supreme Court Denies Verizon's Refund Petition

The Supreme Court rejected Verizon’s attempt to obtain a $47 million refund from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The court issued a list of orders denying Verizon's petition without providing an explanation. This denial concludes Verizon's efforts to have a lower court review the fine and order the FCC to issue a refund.

Background of the FCC Fines

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile were collectively fined $196 million in 2024 by the FCC for selling mobile users’ real-time location data without customer consent. The carriers sold this device-location information to data aggregators, who then resold it to other firms. All three carriers paid their respective fines and subsequently sought to overturn them in court.

Previous Supreme Court Ruling

The carriers initially challenged the fines, claiming a violation of their Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. The Supreme Court ruled against the carriers in June of this year, stating that the FCC penalty process does not violate the Seventh Amendment. The court reasoned that carriers could have obtained jury trials by refusing to pay the fines and waiting for the government to attempt collection. This ruling was an 8-1 decision, with Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting.

Verizon's Subsequent Appeal

Following the initial Supreme Court loss, Verizon filed another petition, arguing it was misled into paying the fine and was unaware of the option to not pay. Verizon claimed the FCC initially presented the fine as binding but later stated that FCC forfeiture orders do not 'compel payment.' Verizon sought another opportunity to argue the fine itself was not legally justifiable, noting the Supreme Court expressed no view on the merits of the fine while leaving Verizon without recourse to challenge it. AT&T and T-Mobile are still pursuing challenges to similar fines, arguing that selling device-location data did not violate US telecom law.