Paris Eiffel Tower says chief to step down after uproar over removing women staff

The operating company that runs the Eiffel Tower said Tuesday its chief would step down at the end of this year in the wake of a controversy over the removal of women staff during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

Patrick Branco Ruivo, who has been director general of the Paris landmark since 2018, would leave his job at the end of the year after an internal probe revealed that "operational flaws and shortcomings" in organising the visit led to the "unacceptable" removal of women staff, the company SETE said in a statement.

The removal of women staff during a visit by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement on September 5 prompted a staff walkout and the closure of the monument for a day, as well as an outcry across political spectrum in France which prizes secularism and gender equality.

At the time, SETE acknowledged the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be organised so as to limit "interactions with women" and said that "these conditions should not have been accepted".

"The coming months will allow us to prepare for the leadership transition under the best possible conditions," said Ariel Weil, SETE's board chairman.

He said he was demanding the creation of a "dedicated protocol department" and the implementation of a new set of measures and training programs to promote gender equality.

The Eiffel Tower, which is owned by the city of Paris, says it receives nearly seven million people a year.

The Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, had lambasted the move to remove women staff as an "absurd, unjust and unacceptable decision" and ordered two separate probes.

The mayor Tuesday "acknowledged Patrick Branco Ruivo's responsible decision" and commended "his commitment to the Eiffel Tower and SETE" since his appointment in late 2018, a person close to him told AFP, asking not to be named,

"It is now imperative to prepare for the leadership transition under the best possible conditions and to fully learn from the situation so that such unacceptable incidents cannot happen again," the person added.

The BAPS spiritual movement, close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling conservative Hindu nationalist party, has apologised for "any pain or inconvenience caused" by the incident.

BAPS had opened its first major temple near Paris the same weekend.

Eiffel Tower staff said in a statement they were given instructions that led to "female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex" during the visit by the delegation.

"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."