A preschool facing a discrimination lawsuit for expelling a disabled child has successfully challenged the powers of the state Division on Civil Rights to bring the suit.

The Appellate Division ruled Wednesday that the agency's director lacks authority under state statute or the doctrine of parens patriae to bring the case against Nobel Learning Communities.

Nobel Learning Communities, doing business as Chesterbrook Academy, was sued after it expelled a 3-year-old girl with Down syndrome from its school in Moorestown in April 2015 because she was not toilet trained. The school said it did not provide diapering services to children in that age group, even though the girl's parents presented a note from her physician stating that she would not become toilet trained until at least age 5 because of her developmental delays.

Her expulsion prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to file a suit against the school for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in addition to the state Division on Civil Rights' suit. The federal suit, assigned to U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman, is still pending.

After the child's parents filed an administrative complaint with the Division on Civil Rights, the division filed a suit against Chesterbrook Academy and Nobel Learning Communities in Superior Court in Burlington County. Craig Sashihara, the division's director at the time, was the only plaintiff.

Superior Court Judge Janet Smith dismissed the complaint on summary judgment in October 2017, finding that Sashihara lacked authority to file an action in Superior Court for compensatory damages for nonparty private citizens, punitive damages for himself, or penalties. Smith also ruled that the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination does not recognize claims of discrimination arising from refusal to do business with a person based on a child's disability.

The state appealed, and Appellate Division Judges Joseph Yannotti, Richard Hoffman and Heidi Currier affirmed.

At the Appellate Division, the division maintained that the statute creating it permits any person to file a complaint, and for any complainant to file an action in Superior Court. Therefore, the state maintained, the statute enables Sashihara to file a complaint in Superior Court. The state said the word "complainant" includes not only individual people, but also the attorney general, acting through the director of the civil rights division, as well as the state commissioners of labor and education.

Chesterbrook Academy countered that the director cannot be considered a complainant. The statute's requirement that the division notify the complainant of his or her rights would create a patently absurd result, the academy claimed. The panel likewise agreed with Chesterbrook's claim that the statute's requirement that the director of the division seek permission from his own agency before filing a complaint would produce another absurd result.

"The statute does not provide for the director to turn to the Superior Court in every case. Instead, it spells out specific instances, and this case does not constitute such an instance," Hoffman wrote.

The appeals court also rejected the division's claim that its director can file the case under the doctrine of parens patriae, which refers to the state's capacity as protector of those unable to care for themselves. In this case, the child's parents demonstrated they are capable of protecting themselves by filing their complaint with the division, the panel said.

The appeals court also said the lower court correctly dismissed the division's claim that Chesterbrook refused to contract with the child's parents based on her disability. The state LAD, despite listing multiple classes of people that are extended its protection, does not name "child" as one of the protected classes, the appeals court said.

Lee Moore, a spokesman for the division, declined to comment on the case.

Bonnie Hoffman of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller in Philadelphia, who represented Chesterbrook, did not return a call.

Chesterbrook sought to stay the federal case in March 2017 pending resolution of the state case, or to dismiss the federal claims for injunctive relief and for compensatory damages for the child's parents. Hillman denied both motions in October 2017, finding that the federal and state suits aren't parallel proceedings.

Nobel Learning Communities is based in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It has faced other suits for disability discrimination. In 2006 the civil rights division sued it for failing to enroll a child with spina bifida at its Glassboro location. That suit was settled with an agreement calling for employees to undergo training on accommodation of disabilities. And in 2009 the Department of Justice sued it in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for refusing to enroll children with disabilities, including Down syndrome, from its schools in 15 states.

The Justice Department and Nobel reached a settlement agreement in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in January 2011. That settlement required the school to create a nondiscrimination policy, provide training to staff and pay $215,000 to the individual plaintiffs.