The chief of the company operating the Eiffel Tower will leave his post at the end of the year after an independent probe found that female employees were excluded during a visit by a Hindu religious group earlier this month.Patrick Branco Ruivo, director general of the Société d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), has decided to step down following an investigation into the September 5 visit by a delegation from Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS.The probe found several operational failures, including the exclusion of female staff from the visit.SETE called the situation as “in female staff being excluded from the visit that day, an unacceptable situation,” in a statement on Tuesday.The decision comes weeks after Ruivo, who took charge of SETE in 2018, faced a staff protest over the issue. The Eiffel Tower was closed on September 7 as employees went on strike.A union official had called the management instructions “unacceptable”.Employees had been told that female staff should not come into contact with the BAPS delegation, which was in Paris for celebrations marking the opening of a traditional Hindu stone temple.BAPS is a global religious and civic organisation belonging to the Swaminarayan sect, a branch of Hinduism.SETE chair Ariel Weil said the company would introduce measures and training programmes focused on gender equality.However, following the visit by BAPS officials to the iconic Eiffel Tower, the Hindu organisation clarified its position.In a statement released after the visit, the BAPS Hindu temple in Paris said it took the concerns “very seriously” and apologised for “any pain or inconvenience caused.”“Due to the size of our delegation, the visit was arranged in conjunction with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing others,” it said.“To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower,” it added, saying it believed in the “universal values of mutual respect and service.”The Eiffel Tower, which is 330 metres tall and draws around 7 million visitors each year, has faced staff strikes before.
