§ 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.