N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law § 19.14: Civil actions against certain officers and employees of the office

§ 19.14 Civil actions against certain officers and employees of the

office.

(a) No civil action shall be brought in any court of the state, except

by the attorney general on behalf of the state, against an officer or

employee of the office who is charged with the duty of securing the

custody of a person in need of care and treatment for alcoholism in his

personal capacity for damages arising out of any act done or the failure

to perform any act within the scope of employment and in the discharge

of official duties by such officer or employee.

(b) Any claim for damages arising out of any act done or the failure

to perform any act within the scope of the employment and in the

discharge of the duties of such officer or employee shall be brought and

maintained in the court of claims as a claim against the state.

(c) The state shall save harmless and indemnify such officer or

employee from financial loss resulting from a claim filed in a court of

the United States for damages arising out of an act done or the failure

to perform any act that was (1) within the scope of the employment and

in the discharge of the duties of such officer or employee, and (2) was

not in violation of any rule or regulation of the office or of any

statute or governing case law of the state or of the United States at

the time the alleged damages were allegedly sustained; provided that the

officer or employee shall comply with the provisions of subdivision four

of section seventeen of the public officers law.

(d) (1) The provisions of this section shall supplement, and be

available in addition to, the provisions of section seventeen of the

public officers law and, insofar as this section is inconsistent with

section seventeen of the public officers law, the provisions of this

section shall be controlling.

(2) The provisions of this section shall not be construed in any way

to impair, modify or abrogate any immunity available to any officer or

employee of the officer under the statutory or decisional law of the

state or the United States.

(e) This section shall not in any way impair, limit or modify the

rights and obligations of any insurer under any policy of insurance.

(f) The benefits of subdivision (c) shall inure only to the officers

and employees of the office and shall not enlarge or diminish the rights

of any other party.

(g) This section shall apply with respect to claims arising on or

after the effective date of this section. Claims arising prior thereto

shall be governed by section seventeen of the public officers law.