Eiffel Tower operating company head to resign following investigation

Weeks after female staff at Paris' Eiffel Tower were excluded during a visit by a Hindu religious group, the head of the company that operates the landmark is set to step down at the end of the year.News agency AP reported on Tuesday (local time) that Patrick Branco Ruivo, director general of the Société d'Exploitation de la tour Eiffel, will leave his post following an independent investigation that found a series of operational failures linked to the 5 September incident.Company operating Eiffel Tower calls incident 'unacceptable'In a statement, the company described the incident as an "unacceptable situation", adding that the failures resulted in female staff being excluded from the visit.

Ruivo was appointed at the end of 2018.Ariel Weil, chair of the company operating the landmark, said on Tuesday that he had called for measures and training programmes aimed at promoting gender equality to be introduced.The Eiffel Tower, which draws around seven million visitors annually, was shut on 7 September after staff went on strike over management directives that a union official called "unacceptable".What do we know about the incident?Earlier this month, Paris authorities launched an investigation after female staff were allegedly sidelined when a delegation from the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) visited the landmark.BAPS is a worldwide religious and civic organisation within the Swaminarayan sect, a branch of Hinduism.

The group had been holding celebrations to mark the inauguration of a traditional stone temple in Paris.Tensions rose among staff at the 330-metre (1,083-foot) landmark after management instructed employees that female workers should avoid contact with the delegation.According to a statement reported by AFP, staff at the Eiffel Tower condemned the incident, describing the instructions as "professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex."The employees added, "Instructions were given to female employees of the Eiffel Tower and to female employees of contractors to make themselves invisible in order to welcome this delegation." They further said they were shocked to have been put in such a situation.The statement further said, "Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas.

In some posts, they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present."BAPS' remarks on the alleged sidelining incidentIn a statement to AP, BAPS said that the group "never requested that female employees be hidden, removed or excluded from the visit." The statement further said, "The religious practices of our monks were explained to the Eiffel Tower's management in advance.

These are personal spiritual commitments, which our monks observe without seeking to impose them on others. They do not require women to be excluded from the places they visit."However, it is not the first time that the 137-year-old landmark has been shut due to industrial action.

In February 2024, the Eiffel Tower was closed for six days as protesting employees demanded better maintenance of the landmark and higher wages.(with agency inputs)