A controversy erupted at the Eiffel Tower after female employees alleged that they were sidelined during a private visit by a BAPS delegation. The incident led to protests by staff and the Eiffel Tower being closed for a day. However, a subsequent investigation by the General Inspectorate of the City of Paris found that BAPS had made “no explicit request” to remove or exclude female employees. BAPS France has also denied asking for women to be excluded, while the probe found that an internal process at the Eiffel Tower led to female staff being replaced or asked to step aside during the visit.
What BAPS France said
In a statement issued after the publication of the investigation findings, BAPS France expressed concern for the employees affected by the events surrounding the visit.
The organisation said it had consistently maintained that it never asked for female employees to be “hidden, removed or excluded” during the delegation’s visit.
According to BAPS France, the investigation established that no such request had been made regarding the exclusion of women from the visitor route. The organisation said it hoped the clarification would help provide a better understanding of what happened and allow those involved to move forward respectfully.
The statement came days after female employees at the Eiffel Tower alleged that they had been excluded during a private visit by the BAPS delegation.
What the Eiffel Tower investigation found
An investigation by the General Inspectorate of the City of Paris found that there had been “no explicit request” from BAPS regarding the removal of female staff.
However, the investigation report said the initial request brought to the attention of SETE, the company operating the Eiffel Tower, concerned the lack of physical contact between religious figures and women.
According to the report, employees working at reception and in customer relations were asked to temporarily leave during the delegation’s ascent to the North Pillar.
A cleaning service provider’s employee was also asked to wait until her break, while another female employee was replaced in an elevator during the group’s descent.
These actions eventually resulted in female staff being sidelined, according to the report accessed by Le Parisien.
Probe says message was distorted
The City of Paris’s Inspector General attributed the situation to an internal process in which a requirement for no contact was gradually translated into the assignment of male staff to various positions.
The implementation was then extended to the point where female employees already in place were dismissed or replaced, the report said.
The investigation concluded that the message had been distorted as it passed through the process.
“Through word of mouth, the message was distorted,” the probe found.
The findings therefore distinguished between an explicit request from BAPS to exclude women and the subsequent actions taken by staff at the Eiffel Tower during the visit.
Eiffel Tower chief to step down
Meanwhile, the company operating the Eiffel Tower has confirmed that its director general, Patrick Branco Ruivo, will step down by the end of the year.
Sociรฉtรฉ d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE) said Ruivo would leave his position after an internal investigation found that “operational flaws and shortcomings” in the organisation of the visit had resulted in female staff being removed from their positions, AFP reported.
SETE said the failures resulted in female staff being excluded from the visit that day, describing the situation as “an unacceptable situation”.
The developments follow the staff protest over the incident, which resulted in the Eiffel Tower being closed for a day.
(With inputs from AFP)
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