Rock v. Huffco Gas & Oil Co.

Richard Rock worked on oil rigs for Huffco (defendant) and later Dual Drilling (defendant). He claimed his foot fell through a rusted step on Huffco's rig, spraining his ankle, and later that he reinjured the same ankle by slipping on grease at Dual's rig; no one witnessed either incident. Rock told his treating doctors the details of both incidents, then died the following year. His family (plaintiffs) sued Huffco and Dual for negligence and sought to admit Rock's statements to the doctors. The doctors testified they only needed to know Rock hurt his ankle, not the specific cause, for treatment purposes. The district court excluded the statements as hearsay and granted summary judgment to the defendants.