The Supreme Court has turned down a request for a rehearing regarding Verizon’s $46.9 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that is connected to its former customer location data program.
On Monday, the justices dismissed the petition without any explanation, which means the earlier ruling against Verizon stands firm, as noted in the court’s orders from August 17.
This decision effectively concludes Verizon’s attempts to alter the outcome from the Supreme Court’s June ruling that supported the FCC’s forfeiture actions, which were challenged under the Seventh Amendment. The court clarified that even though the FCC issued a fine, it doesn’t compel companies to pay immediately; instead, if they refuse, the government can take legal action in federal court where the companies can contest it fully before a judge or jury.
Interestingly, in a decision made on June 4, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s verdict against Verizon but directed AT&T’s separate case back to the Fifth Circuit for more examination. This inconsistency in handling the two cases was central to Verizon’s appeal for a retrial.
The FCC determined that Verizon had not sufficiently safeguarded customer location information shared through third-party location service providers, resulting in a forfeiture of around $47 million back in 2024.
After some protests, Verizon accepted the fine while challenging the FCC’s order in federal court. Last year, the Second Circuit dismissed Verizon’s challenge, including its claim that the location data in question did not fall under the protection offered by Section 222 of the Communications Act.
In seeking reconsideration, Verizon argued that the FCC’s forfeiture order seemed to require immediate payment within 30 days; however, the government later contended in the Supreme Court that carriers have the option to refuse payment and wait for enforcement actions.
The Supreme Court’s opinion from June didn’t explicitly state whether the airline was misled into making the payment or if a refund should be available. The justices chose to refrain from addressing the merits of those claims or the possible remedies.
Subsequently, Verizon requested that the Supreme Court remand the case back to the Second Circuit to see if there was any merit to the claim that it was misled regarding the penalty and to consider the possibility of a refund.
With the Supreme Court’s recent denial, the Second Circuit’s ruling remains validated, dismissing Verizon’s remand request.
There is still an ongoing debate regarding the FCC’s authority. T-Mobile and Sprint have petitioned the Supreme Court to reexamine their respective penalties related to location data, particularly questioning if this data is considered protected customer proprietary network information under the Communications Act. Their petition, filed on June 22, is still pending.
The continued legal tussles may influence the way the FCC enforces federal protections for customer data and shapes large civil fines against telecommunications companies.
