Eiffel Tower chief to quit after female staff replaced by men during religious visit
The company that runs the Eiffel Tower said the removal of female staff during the visit earlier this month was "unacceptable".
Eiffel Tower chief to quit after female staff replaced by men during religious visit
The head of the company that operates the Eiffel Tower will resign following criticism over female employees being swapped out for male co-workers during a visit by a Hindu religious group.
Patrick Branco Ruivo, who has served as director general of the Paris landmark since 2018, will leave his post at the end of the year, SETE said in a statement.
The company said an internal inquiry found that "operational flaws and shortcomings" in arranging the visit resulted in the "unacceptable" removal of female staff.
They were replaced by male colleagues when a delegation of about 100 people connected to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) group visited the Eiffel Tower earlier this month.
BAPS - a movement whose beliefs date back to the 18th Century - strictly keeps men and women separate, including in temple activities and at building entrances.
At the time, SETE said the Hindu delegation had asked for the visit to be arranged to limit "interactions with women" and said that "these conditions should not have been accepted".
A staff union representative said "women were asked to leave their places of work" and felt "humiliated".
Workers at the monument also said female employees were "instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present".
The visit prompted the tower to close as staff went on strike in protest, and politicians condemned the incident.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France's National Assembly, said after the visit: "I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors."
Paris Socialist mayor Emmanuel Gregoire called it an "absurd, unjust and unacceptable decision" and ordered two separate investigations.
SETE chair Ariel Weil said on Tuesday that he had asked for measures and training programmes promoting gender equality to be put in place.
"The coming months will allow us to prepare for the leadership transition under the best possible conditions," he said.
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 has temples in major cities around the world, including London, Los Angeles and Sydney.
It bases its beliefs on 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 says separating men and women was introduced for the benefit of women, but critics argue that 18th-Century beliefs have no place in today's world, and that excluding women in the name of religious practice is discriminatory.