Eiffel Tower CEO to Step Down After Staff Swap Sparks Controversy

Tue Sep 29 2026 19:35:58 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

After female staff were swapped out for men during a Hindu delegation visit, the Eiffel Tower’s chief steps down amid backlash and gender‑equality protests.

The CEO of the Eiffel Tower, Patrick Branco Ruivo, will resign after an internal probe found he allowed female staff to be replaced by men for a BAPS Hindu delegation that wanted to limit contact with women. The move sparked a strike by staff, a closure of the landmark, and condemnation from French officials, who called it unacceptable. The incident highlights ongoing tensions between religious traditions that segregate by gender and contemporary gender‑equity values.

Eiffel Tower CEO to Step Down After Staff Swap Sparks Controversy

The chief executive of the Paris landmark, Patrick Branco Ruivo, will leave his role at the end of the year after an investigation found that operational flaws allowed empty‑handed swapping of female staff for men during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

The swap happened when a delegation of about 100 people from the BACHANWASI AKSHAR PURUROTTAM SWAMINARAYAN SANTHA (BAPS) called the tower to celebrate the opening of a new Paris temple. BAPS follows a tradition of strict gender segregation in its temples and public events.

When the group requested the visitor arrangement, the management instructed female employees to leave their stations and barred them from certain areas. The request was later denied by the tower’s union as humiliating and discriminatory.

In the aftermath, staff staged a strike and the Eiffel Tower was temporarily closed. French officials, including Parliament president Yaël Braun‑Pivet and Paris mayor Emmanuel Gérard, condemned the decision as unjust and ordered separate investigations.

SETE, the company that runs the tower, announced it would implement new training programmes aimed at promoting gender equality. CEO Ruivo’s resignation is part of the planned leadership transition, to be completed by the end of the year.

BAPS issued an apology, noting it “believes in the universal values of mutual respect and service.” However many observers argue the segregation rules are an anachronism that excludes women from modern civic spaces.