Full Breakdown
Eiffel Tower Chief to Resign After Staff Walkout Over Female Employee Removal
By Drooid · · How we work
Incident Overview
On September 7, 2026, the Eiffel Tower was closed following a strike by employees who protested the removal of female staff during a private visit by the Hindu religious organization Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). The following day, September 8, workers staged a walkout, demanding accountability for instructions that had sidelined women employees and contractors. In response, the operating company Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) announced on September 29, 2026 that Patrick Branco Ruivo, the tower’s chief since 2018, will step down at the end of the year. SETE’s internal investigation cited “operational flaws and shortcomings” in organizing the visit as the cause of the “unacceptable” removal of women staff.
Background on the BAPS Visit
BAPS is a worldwide civic and religious group within the Swaminarayan branch of Hinduism and maintains public ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The organization was in Paris to celebrate the inauguration of a traditional Hindu stone temple and coordinated a cultural boat procession on the Seine on the same day as the tower visit. During the Eiffel Tower tour, female employees were instructed to make themselves invisible, a practice that staff described as “professional instructions” that rendered them “invisible because of their sex.”
Official Responses
- SETE released a statement indicating that the internal probe identified procedural failures that led to the gender-based exclusion of staff.
- Ariel Weil, chair of SETE, said she has requested the implementation of gender-equality training programmes for tower personnel.
- Eiffel Tower staff issued a collective condemnation, describing the instructions as a deliberate sidelining of female employees and contractors.
Timeline and Key Data
Implications
The episode has triggered widespread political condemnation in France, with officials across the spectrum denouncing the incident as an attack on fundamental liberties. The controversy has also intensified scrutiny of BAPS’s activities in Europe and prompted calls for stronger gender-equality safeguards within public institutions. The forthcoming leadership change at the Eiffel Tower is positioned as a step toward restoring confidence among the workforce and the public.