New York Mental Hygiene Law Section 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.

Last modified: February 3, 2019