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Eiffel Tower Chief Resigns After Female Staff Moved for Hindu Group’s Visit
The New York Times • • world
Key Points:
- Patrick Branco Ruivo, director of the Eiffel Tower Operating Company since 2018, will resign at the end of the year following an internal inquiry into the exclusion of female staff during a visit by members of a Hindu group.
- The incident involved replacing female employees with men during the visit by monks from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, who follow vows prohibiting interaction with women.
- The exclusion of female workers sparked a staff strike that closed the Eiffel Tower for a day, prompting apologies from both the tower’s management and the Hindu group.
- French officials, including the minister for gender equality and the mayor of Paris, condemned the incident as contrary to French values and principles of gender equality and secularism.
- The city of Paris, majority owner of the operating company, has launched two investigations to examine the decisions leading to the exclusion of female employees.
