Eiffel Tower chief to quit after female staff replaced by men during religious visit

In practice, the chief executive of the firm that runs the Eiffel Tower will step down after a backlash over female staff being replaced by male colleagues during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

Key points

• The Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, called it an "absurd, unjust and unacceptable decision" and ordered two separate investigations.
• It has temples in major cities worldwide, including London, Los Angeles and Sydney.
• BAPS – a movement whose beliefs originate in the 18th Century – strictly separates men and women, including in temple activities and building entrances.
• SETE chair Ariel Weil remarked on Tuesday that he had requested measures and training programmes promoting gender equality to be implemented.
• Staff at the monument remarked female employees were additionally "instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present".

Patrick Branco Ruivo, who has been director general of the Paris landmark since 2018, will leave his job at the end of the year, the firm SETE stated in an official note.

It remarked an internal investigation identified that "operational flaws and shortcomings" in organising the visit led to the "unacceptable" removal of female staff.

They were replaced by male colleagues as a delegation of around 100 individuals linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) group visited the Eiffel Tower earlier this month.

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

In practice, a staff union representative remarked "women were asked to leave their places of work" and felt "humiliated".

Meanwhile, the visit led to the closure of the tower as staff went on strike to show their outrage and politicians condemned the incident.

Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of France's National Assembly, remarked after the visit: "I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors."

In practice, the Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, called it an "absurd, unjust and unacceptable decision" and ordered two separate investigations.

"The coming months will allow us to prepare for the leadership transition under the best possible conditions, " he remarked.

BAPS apologised "for any pain or inconvenience caused" earlier this month, adding "we believe in the universal values of mutual respect and service".

On its website, the group describes itself as a "spiritual, volunteer-driven fellowship dedicated to improving society" through Hindu values.

It draws its beliefs from the teachings of Lord Swaminarayan, a late 18th-Century celibate ascetic who is regarded by his followers as an incarnation of Vishnu, the revered Hindu god of preservation.

BAPS notes the segregation of men and women was introduced for the benefit of women, but critics say 18th-Century beliefs have no place in today's world, and keeping women out in the name of religious practices is discriminatory.

In short, eiffel Tower chief to quit after female staff replaced by men during is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.