New York: Contractual Indemnity Disallowed When Indemnity Agreement Signed After Worker’s Injury

New York’s workers’ compensation law prohibits a defendant from pursuing an indemnity or contribution action against the employer unless (a) the plaintiff/injured worker sustained a “grave injury” or there is a written indemnity agreement [N.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 11].  Recently, a state appellate court reversed a trial court’s decision that denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment regarding a defendant’s third party claim, finding that the agreement between the defendant and the employer that contained an indemnification clause was signed nearly a week after the plaintiff/worker was injured.  Nothing in the agreement showed that it was intended to have retroactive effect.  The appellate court ruled there was no triable issue.

Reported by Thomas A. Robinson, J.D.

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See Meabon v. Town of Poland, 2013 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5312 (July 19, 2013) [2013 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5312 (July 19, 2013)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 121.04 [121.04]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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