The chief executive of the organization overseeing the Eiffel Tower will resign by the year-end following an incident where female employees were barred from a visit by a Hindu religious group at the Paris landmark. Patrick Branco Ruivo, the director general of the Société d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel, will step down after an investigation revealed operational shortcomings during the group’s visit on September 5. The company acknowledged the failures that led to the exclusion of female staff on that day as an unacceptable situation.

The Eiffel Tower, a popular attraction drawing seven million visitors annually, had to close on September 7 due to a staff strike triggered by what a union representative termed as inappropriate management directives. Tensions rose among the 330-meter tower’s employees when management instructed that female workers should not interact with the delegation from Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a global religious and civic organization within the Swaminarayan Hindu sect.

In response to the controversy, BAPS clarified that they never asked for female employees to be concealed or excluded from the visit. The group highlighted that their monks’ religious practices were communicated in advance to the Eiffel Tower’s management, emphasizing that these practices are personal spiritual commitments without mandating the exclusion of women from visited spaces.

Ariel Weil, the chair of the operating company, announced plans on Tuesday to introduce initiatives and training sessions aimed at promoting gender equality within the organization. This incident is not the first time the iconic tower, which has a 137-year history, has faced closure due to labor disputes. In February 2024, the Eiffel Tower was shuttered for six days as workers protested for better maintenance of the historic site and increased wages.