In January 1998 , Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh ( not to be confused with convicted Oklahoma City bomber , Timothy J. McVeigh ) won a preliminary injunction from a U.S. district court that prevented his discharge from the U.S. Navy for " homosexual conduct " after 17 years of service . His lawsuit did not challenge the DADT policy , but asked the court to hold the military accountable for adhering to the policy 's particulars . The Navy had investigated McVeigh 's sexual orientation based on his AOL email account name and user profile . District Judge Stanley Sporkin ruled in '' McVeigh v. Cohen '' that the Navy had violated its own DADT guidelines : " Suggestions of sexual orientation in a private , anonymous email account did not give the Navy a sufficient reason to investigate to determine whether to commence discharge proceedings . " He called the Navy 's investigation " a search and destroy mission " against McVeigh . The case also attracted attention because a navy paralegal had misrepresented himself when querying AOL for information about McVeigh 's account . Frank Rich linked the two issues : " McVeigh is as clear-cut a victim of a witch hunt as could be imagined , and that witch hunt could expand exponentially if the military wants to add on-line fishing to its invasion of service members ' privacy . " AOL apologized to McVeigh and paid him damages . McVeigh reached a settlement with the Navy that paid his legal expenses and allowed him to retire with full benefits in July . '' The New York Times '' called Sporkin 's ruling " a victory for gay rights , with implications for the millions of people who use computer on-line services "
Oklahoma City bomber
Oklahoma City bombing
Don't ask, don't tell