PARIS (Diya TV) — The head of the Eiffel Tower’s operating company will step down at year’s end after an investigation found management failures that led to female employees’ exclusion during a Hindu delegation’s visit.
Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, known as SETE, announced Patrick Branco Ruivo’s departure last Tuesday. The company called the treatment of female staff unacceptable. Ruivo has led SETE since late 2018.
The controversy centers on a private visit by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha in early September. Employees protested management’s instructions, closing the tower for a day.
A separate investigation by the General Inspectorate of the City of Paris found no explicit request from BAPS to exclude women throughout the visitor route, according to findings reported by Le Parisien.
The investigation traced the incident to a request concerning physical contact between religious figures and women. Staff progressively expanded that request into instructions to assign men to several positions and remove or replace female employees.
Reception and customer relations workers temporarily left their posts during part of the visit. Managers also replaced a female employee in an elevator during the delegation’s descent, according to the reported findings.
Ruivo denied personally instructing staff to remove or replace women.
BAPS reiterated that it had never requested the exclusion of female employees. The organization said its monks’ religious practices involve personal commitments and do not require women to leave places they visit.
The delegation visited France for celebrations marking the opening of a Hindu temple in Bussy-Saint-Georges, east of Paris.
SETE chair Ariel Weil called for a dedicated protocol department and training measures promoting gender equality. He said the coming months would allow the company to prepare for the leadership transition.
