A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit accusing a Success Academy charter school in Brooklyn of harsh treatment of five disabled children to move forward to trial. U.S. District Judge Frederic Block of the Eastern District of New York preserved discrimination claims by five plaintiff children who attended the Success Academy in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, and who were disenrolled for breaking a disciplinary code that one attorney for the plaintiffs described as “militaristic.” “Given the unrelenting nature of the disciplinary code, it is questionable whether Success Academy is a good fit for disabled children,” the judge said. Three of the five plaintiffs were diagnosed with learning disabilities, court papers state, while two others were not classified as having disabilities but were allegedly considered as such by Success because they could not comply with the school's disciplinary code. In one incident, according to Block's ruling, a plaintiff identified as S.S., who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, became upset while his class was on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History. S.S.'s teacher responded by calling the police and the student was taken to a pediatric psychiatric unit. Block said Success enforces a “Code of Conduct,” which is a zero-tolerance policy that requires students, among other things, to assume a sitting position in class known as “Magic 5,” to always be on task, comply with the dress code and carry “air bubbles” in their mouths when moving from class to class to prevent them from speaking to each other. According to Block's ruling, in which he also preserved the plaintiffs' retaliation and civil rights claims, the five plaintiffs allegedly ended up on a “got to go” list maintained by their school's principal. If that's proved, the judge said, it would establish “intentional and systemic” discrimination against disabled students. “They're in for a trial and a jury is going to look at these five kids and what they went through,” said plaintiffs' attorney Arthur Schwartz of Advocates for Justice Chartered Attorneys. “I would be very worried if I was Success.” The plaintiffs' legal team also included Katie Rosenfeld, Ruth Lowenkron and Irene Mendez of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; Alan Klinger, Beth Norton and Kayley McGrath of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan; and Laura Barbieri, also of Advocates for Justice. A spokeswoman for Success declined to comment on the ruling. Aaron Safane and Christopher Lavigne of Success' in-house legal staff appeared in the case. Success, which enrolls pupils through a lottery system, receives federal and state funding and free building space from New York City while also taking in huge amounts of cash through its fundraising efforts. It reportedly collected $35 million in donations at a fundraising gala in 2016. While the ruling was a partial victory for the plaintiffs, Block denied their claim of a hostile learning environment, which the judge said has never been recognized by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Block said a District of Massachusetts court embraced the claim in a 1997 ruling and, the following year, a Southern District of New York court followed suit. Block said that while he agreed with those courts that a hostile learning environment is just as “invidious” as a hostile work environment, the plaintiffs in the Success case failed to meet the burden of proving that their work environment was “permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule and insult.” Norton said proving that plaintiffs were victims of a barrage of insults to bring a hostile learning environment claim is a “high standard to meet.” She said that Block's recognition of the claim could open the door for other plaintiffs to bring the claim themselves. “The behavior of the adult in this situation created a hostile environment,” Norton said. Success' alleged mistreatment of its disabled students is also the subject of a complaint that Public Advocate Letitia James, New York City Councilman Daniel Dromm and a phalanx of attorneys from Legal Services NYC, the Legal Aid Society, MFY Legal Services, the New York Legal Assistance Group and the Partnership for Children's Rights filed in 2016 with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The civil rights complaint concerns treatment of disabled students across the Success network.