Eiffel Tower Director Resigns After Excluding Female Staff
Patrick Branco Ruivo will step down as director of the Eiffel Tower's operating company after female staff were sidelined during a Hindu religious visit.
Director General Patrick Branco Ruivo will resign from the Société d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE) at the end of 2026. His departure follows an internal investigation into the exclusion of female employees during a September 5 visit by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Hindu religious group.
The investigation found that SETE management complied with a BAPS request to limit interactions with women to accommodate monks, including spiritual leader Mahant Swami Maharaj, whose vows forbid such contact. Consequently, female staff were sidelined, replaced by male colleagues, or ordered to wait in separate rooms. The incident triggered a staff strike on September 7 that forced the monument to close.
SETE and Paris city hall both issued apologies, with SETE admitting the conditions should not have been accepted. BAPS also apologized for any pain caused. In response to the controversy, SETE chair Ariel Weil has called for the creation of a dedicated protocol department and the implementation of new gender equality training for staff.
