Probe Clears BAPS France in Eiffel Tower Gender Row: No Request to Exclude Women
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Following days of widespread controversy and staff walkouts that temporarily shut down the world’s most visited paid monument, an official administrative inquiry by the General Inspectorate of the City of Paris has confirmed that the Hindu organization BAPS France made "no explicit request" to remove, hide, or sideline female employees during a private VIP delegation visit to the Eiffel Tower. Denying all allegations of gender discrimination, BAPS reiterated that its original standard protocol related solely to customary spiritual practices of monks avoiding direct physical contact with women. The investigative findings revealed that the exclusion occurred entirely due to severe internal operational miscommunications within the monument's operating company, Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), prompting its Director General, Patrick Branco Ruivo, to announce his resignation by the end of the year.
BAPS France Rebuffs Claims: Respectful Practices Distorted by Monument Handlers
Issuing an official statement in the wake of the inquiry's findings, BAPS France expressed genuine sympathy for the workers caught in the organizational fallout while setting the record straight:
No Demands for Gender Exclusion: BAPS highlighted that it had consistently affirmed it never asked for female staff members to be hidden, dismissed, or banned from the visiting route during the delegation's tour of the landmark.
Findings Vindicate Spiritual Organization: The formal investigation substantiated the organization's position, establishing that no directive demanding women's removal ever originated from the visiting delegation.
Moving Forward With Mutual Respect: Representatives for BAPS France expressed hope that the clear factual findings would dispel misunderstandings and enable all parties, including monument staff, to move forward respectfully.
How Internal Messages Got Distorted: What the City of Paris Inquiry Uncovered
The detailed investigative dossier accessed by French daily Le Parisien revealed that a standard physical spacing request snowballed into an unauthorized administrative purge across several floors:
The Original Request: The only guideline brought to the attention of SETE management by the delegation was a standard religious practice concerning the absence of direct physical touch between monastic figures and women.
The Telephone Game of Protocol: According to the City of Paris's Inspector General, middle management interpreted the "no physical touch" advisory as a mandate to deploy solely male personnel, triggering an uncontrolled chain of internal word-of-mouth directives.
Female Employees Sidelined Across Stations: Female staff at front-desk reception and customer relationship desks were instructed to step aside during the delegation's ascent via the North Pillar, a cleaning contractor was asked to remain on break until the group passed, and an elevator operator was substituted mid-transit on the descent.
A Distortion of Protocol: The inquiry concluded that the regrettable sidelining of female staff was purely the result of internal overreach and distorted communications by Eiffel Tower supervisors, who turned a passive distancing request into active workplace exclusion.
Eiffel Tower Chief Executive Resigns: Operator Admits 'Unacceptable' Failures
The fallout from the internal mismanagement has sparked structural leadership consequences at the monument:
Director General Patrick Branco Ruivo to Step Down: Operating company SETE officially announced that its Director General, Patrick Branco Ruivo, will leave his post before the close of the year to take institutional responsibility.
Admission of Systemic Flaws: SETE acknowledged that internal reviews uncovered profound organizational flaws, procedural lapses, and management breakdowns that unjustly displaced women from their workstations, terming the entire episode an "unacceptable situation."
Resolution Following Landmark Closure: The corrective actions and leadership overhaul follow acute labor unrest and union demonstrations, which saw the historic 330-meter iron monument forced to close its gates to global tourists for an entire operational day.
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