Eiffel Tower Director To Step Down Amid Row Over Treatment Of Female Staff During Religious Visit
Paris: The director of the company that operates the Eiffel Tower, Patrick Branco Ruivo, will leave his position by the end of the year, days after a controversy erupted over arrangements made during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation.
The development comes weeks after around 100 members linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) visited the iconic Paris landmark as part of events surrounding the opening of a major Hindu temple in France.
The visit led to an internal dispute after staff representatives alleged that female employees were instructed to stay away from certain parts of the delegation’s route and, in some cases, were replaced by male colleagues.
According to Le Figaro, Ruivo informed employees on Tuesday that he had decided to step down.
In a message to staff, Ruivo said he had not personally instructed anyone to remove or replace women during the visit.
“At no point did I give instructions to remove or replace women along the route of this delegation,” he said, while acknowledging that women had nevertheless been moved away from certain areas.
Eiffel Tower Staff Protest
The arrangements triggered strong opposition among employees.
Staff representatives said female workers had been instructed not to cross certain areas while the delegation was present. They described the treatment as humiliating and inconsistent with the principle of equality between men and women.
The dispute eventually led to a strike, forcing the Eiffel Tower to close for a day.
The company operating the landmark, Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), later acknowledged that the conditions imposed during the visit should not have been accepted.
SETE said the arrangements were inconsistent with its values and its commitment to gender equality and neutrality.
Ariel Weil, president of SETE and mayor of Paris Centre, said managers had been “a bit overzealous” in responding to the delegation’s request.
Weil said that neither he nor Ruivo had been aware of the arrangements at the time and described the situation as unacceptable.
An internal investigation was subsequently launched to determine how the arrangements were decided and who was responsible.
What BAPS Said
BAPS has maintained that the visit was organised in coordination with the Eiffel Tower team and scheduled at the beginning of normal opening hours in an effort to minimise disruption to other visitors.
The organisation also apologised to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by the incident.
At the same time, BAPS said that, to its knowledge, no one had been denied access to the monument during the visit.
The differing accounts have added to the controversy, with the internal investigation expected to shed more light on how the arrangements came about.
Political Criticism In France
The incident has also drawn criticism from French political leaders, who questioned why female employees were reportedly treated differently during the delegation’s visit.
Ruivo’s decision to leave his position adds another significant development to the dispute.
The internal inquiry is continuing to examine how the arrangements were made, who authorised them and what led to the restrictions reported by staff representatives.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
