Supreme Court Denies Verizon $47M FCC Fine Reconsideration

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to alter a June ruling, effectively ending Verizon Communications' attempt to recover a $47 million fine it paid to the Federal Communications Commission for mishandling customer location data. The decision leaves Verizon without a path to challenge the underlying validity of the penalty, unlike its major competitors who retain similar opportunities.

The denial came in a routine orders list, with the justices offering no explanation. Verizon had sought a minor procedural change to the court's June 4 disposition, asking that the judgment be affirmed but remanded to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Such a move would have aligned its case with that of AT&T, which received a remand in the Fifth Circuit, allowing it to argue that the FCC misinterpreted the scope of protected customer data. The Supreme Court's refusal to grant this request means Verizon alone among the major carriers has no remaining avenue to contest the statutory interpretation of the privacy violations.

The underlying fines, totaling nearly $200 million, were levied in April 2024 against Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. The FCC accused the carriers of selling...