The head of the company that operates the Eiffel Tower is to step down following a backlash over female staff being sidelined during a visit by a Hindu religious group.
Patrick Branco Ruivo, who has been director general of the Paris landmark since 2018, is to leave his job at the end of the year after an internal investigation found “operational flaws and shortcomings” in organising the visit led to the “unacceptable” removal of women staff, the company Sete said in a statement.
On September 5, female employees were asked to step out of site when a delegation of about 100 people linked to the Hindu group Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or Baps, made a private visit to the Eiffel Tower. The group had requested that “interactions with women” would be limited during the visit. The group opened a new temple in Paris with a ceremony addressed virtually by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“As the delegation passed through, women were asked to leave their workstations so that men could take their places,” Diane Davoine, a union representative, said after the visit. The union demanded that women were “never treated this way at the company again”.
It prompted a staff protest and an investigation by Paris city authorities.
Sete has now acknowledged the request should not have been accepted.
Ariel Weil, the company's board chairman, said the company is to create a “dedicated protocol department”, which will implement a new set of measures and training programmes to promote gender equality.
The socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, who called the decision to remove women staff “absurd, unjust and unacceptable”, said Mr Ruivo's removal was a “responsible decision”, a person close to him told AFP.
The Eiffel Tower, which is owned by the City of Paris, says it receives nearly seven million visitors a year.
Baps was established more than 100 years ago in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat and describes itself as a socio-spiritual Hindu organisation. Its monks follow strict rules of celibacy, while followers are expected to adhere to a set of moral guidelines.
The organisation has built temples around the world, including in Atlanta, Chicago, London, Sydney and Nairobi. In 2024, Mr Modi inaugurated its temple in Abu Dhabi, one of the largest Hindu temples in the Middle East.
