2006 New York Code - Alternative Remedy.

 
    § 11.  Alternative remedy.  The liability of an employer prescribed by
  the  last preceding section shall be exclusive and in place of any other
  liability  whatsoever,  to  such   employee,   his   or   her   personal
  representatives,  spouse,  parents,  dependents,  distributees,  or  any
  person otherwise entitled to recover damages, contribution or indemnity,
  at common law or otherwise, on  account  of  such  injury  or  death  or
  liability  arising therefrom, except that if an employer fails to secure
  the payment of compensation for his or her injured employees  and  their
  dependents  as  provided  in  section  fifty of this chapter, an injured
  employee, or his or her legal representative in case  of  death  results
  from  the injury, may, at his or her option, elect to claim compensation
  under this chapter, or to maintain an action in the courts  for  damages
  on  account  of  such  injury;  and  in  such  an action it shall not be
  necessary to plead or prove freedom from contributory negligence nor may
  the defendant plead as a defense that  the  injury  was  caused  by  the
  negligence of a fellow servant nor that the employee assumed the risk of
  his  or  her employment, nor that the injury was due to the contributory
  negligence of the employee.  The liability under this chapter of The New
  York Jockey Injury Compensation Fund, Inc.  created  under  section  two
  hundred  thirteen-a of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law
  shall be limited to the provision of workers' compensation coverage  and
  any  statutory  penalties  resulting  from  the  failure to provide such
  coverage.
    For purposes of this section the terms "indemnity" and  "contribution"
  shall  not  include  a  claim    or  cause of action for contribution or
  indemnification based upon a provision in  a  written  contract  entered
  into  prior  to  the  accident  or  occurrence by which the employer had
  expressly agreed to contribution to or indemnification of  the  claimant
  or person asserting the cause of action for the type of loss suffered.
    An  employer  shall not be liable for contribution or indemnity to any
  third person based upon liability for injuries sustained by an  employee
  acting  within  the  scope  of  his  or her employment for such employer
  unless such third person proves through competent medical evidence  that
  such  employee  has sustained a "grave injury" which shall mean only one
  or more of the following:  death, permanent and total  loss  of  use  or
  amputation  of an arm, leg, hand or foot, loss of multiple fingers, loss
  of multiple  toes,  paraplegia  or  quadriplegia,  total  and  permanent
  blindness,  total  and  permanent  deafness,  loss of nose, loss of ear,
  permanent and severe facial disfigurement, loss of an index finger or an
  acquired injury to the  brain  caused  by  an  external  physical  force
  resulting in permanent total disability.
    For  purposes  of  this  section  "person" means any individual, firm,
  company,   partnership,   corporation,   joint   venture,    joint-stock
  association, association, trust or legal entity.
    The  liability under this chapter of the New York black car operators'
  injury compensation fund, inc. shall be limited  to:  (i)  securing  the
  payment of workers' compensation in accordance with article six-F of the
  executive  law to black car operators, as defined in such article, whose
  injury arose out of and in  the  course  of  providing  services  for  a
  central  dispatch  facility,  as  defined  in  such  article,  that is a
  registered member of such fund, and (ii) any statutory penalty resulting
  from the failure to  secure  such  payment.  The  liability  under  this
  chapter  of  a central dispatch facility, as defined in article six-F of
  the executive law, that is a registered member of the New York black car
  operators' injury compensation fund,  inc.  that  shall  be  limited  to
  remaining  a  registered  member  in  good standing of such fund and any
  statutory penalty, including loss of immunity provided by this  section,
  resulting  from  the  failure to become or remain a registered member in
  good standing of such fund, except, however, that such central  dispatch
  facility  shall  be  subject  to  the  provisions of section one hundred
  thirty-one of this chapter and shall be  liable  for  any  payments  for
  which  it may become responsible pursuant to such section or pursuant to
  section fourteen-a of this chapter.