O’REGAN J dangers of shallow comparativism must be avoided. To forbid any comparative review because of those risks, however, would be to deprive our legal system of the benefits of the learning and wisdom to be found in other jurisdictions. Our courts will look at other jurisdictions for enlightenment and assistance in developing our own law. The question of whether we will find assistance will depend on whether the jurisprudence considered is of itself valuable and persuasive. If it is, the courts and our law will benefit. If it is not, the courts will say so, and no harm will be done. [36] In the recent House of Lords decision, Lister v Hesley Hall,44 the plaintiffs, who had been boarders at a private school for boys, were sexually abused by the warden in charge of the school’s hostel. The school was held vicariously liable for the conduct of the warden even though it was clear that it constituted a gross deviation from his duties. The test established by Lord Steyn, after a careful consideration of the authorities, was whether the torts “were so closely connected with [the warden’s] employment that it would be fair and just to hold the employers vicariously liable.”45 Lord Millett reasoned as follows ─ 44 Above n 26. 45 Id at para 28. See also the approach adopted by Lord Clyde who held that – “. . . the essence of the decision seems to me to lie in the recognition of the existence of a sufficient connection between the acts of the employee and the employment. This in turn was explored by reference to various factors by reference to which the strength of the connection can be established.” (At para 48.) Lord Hobhouse too spoke of a connection between the wrongful conduct and the duties of the employee as follows – “Whether or not some act comes within the scope of the servant’s employment depends upon an identification of what duty the servant was employed by his employer to perform. . . . If the act of the servant which gives rise to the servant’s liability to the plaintiff amounted to a failure by the servant to perform that duty, the act comes within ‘the scope of his employment’ and the employer is vicariously liable. If, on the other hand, the servant’s employment merely 26