Patrick Branco Ruivo, chief executive of SETE, the company that runs the Eiffel Tower, is stepping down after strong criticism over women staff being removed and replaced by male colleagues. He will leave at the end of this year.
SETE, which operates the famous Paris landmark, said in a statement that Ruivo, its director general since 2018, would step down at the end of the year.
The incident arose from a visit by a delegation from a Hindu religious organisation. Earlier this month, a delegation of about 100 members linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) visited the Eiffel Tower, and women staff were removed and replaced by male colleagues during the visit.
SETE then held an internal investigation, which it said found “operational errors and shortcomings” in organising the visit that led to the “unacceptable” situation of women staff being removed.
BAPS follows a policy of strict separation of men and women, with separate arrangements for men and women in its temple activities and access to buildings.
SETE said at the time that the delegation had asked for the visit to be organised so as to limit “contact with women”, and acknowledged that “such conditions should not have been accepted”.
A representative of an Eiffel Tower staff union, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “The women were asked to leave their workstations,” adding that they felt “humiliated”. Staff say women employees were told not to go to or pass through certain areas while the delegation was at the tower.
Outrage spread once the incident became public. Staff went on strike in protest, closing the Eiffel Tower to visitors, and French politicians also criticised what happened. An apology was issued for the delay in opening the tower for operational reasons.
“I cannot accept that women should be forced to step aside to meet the demands of foreign visitors,” said Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.
Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire called it an “absurd, unfair and unacceptable decision” and ordered two separate inquiries.
SETE chairman Ariel Weil said on Tuesday that measures and training programmes to ensure gender equality had been ordered. “We will be able to prepare over the coming months so that the change in leadership can be carried out in the best possible way,” he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report