The Supreme Court has turned down Verizon's request for a $47 million refund from the Federal Communications Commission, closing the book on their legal wrangling over a fine for selling user location data without consent. The court’s denial leaves Verizon with no further legal appeals.
In June 2026, AT&T and T-Mobile joined forces in challenging similar fines, arguing that the sale of device-location data does not violate US telecom law. However, their battle continues as they seek to overturn a $196 million fine collectively imposed by the FCC for unauthorized data sharing.
Verizon's legal team now plans to appeal again, claiming it was misled into paying the fine and that its Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial should have been respected. The company states that the FCC initially presented the penalty as binding but later changed their stance, effectively leaving Verizon in limbo.
The decision has left many questioning whether corporations can be consistently held accountable when they are given incorrect legal advice or misinformation about the consequences of their actions.







