Protest Erupts as Women Staff at Eiffel Tower Were 'Asked To Leave' So Men Could Serve Hindu Guests Instead

Female Eiffel Tower employees were allegedly asked to move away from their workstations during a private visit by a BAPS Hindu delegation on Saturday, 5 September, prompting a staff protest and an investigation by Paris authorities.

The tower's operator, SETE, has acknowledged that arrangements were made to limit the delegation's interactions with female employees and said those conditions should not have been accepted.

The incident involved around 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, known as BAPS, during a private visit to the Paris landmark. The delegation was in France for festivities connected with the inauguration of a Hindu temple in the suburbs of the capital.

The dispute escalated on Monday, 7 September, when Eiffel Tower employees held a meeting over the arrangements. The monument was closed to visitors as workers protested, before reopening on Tuesday.

Eiffel Tower Staff Protest Over BAPS Visit

Diane Davoine, a union representative, said female workers were asked to leave their workstations as members of the delegation passed through, with male colleagues taking their places.

'As the delegation passed through, women were asked to leave their workstations so that men could take their places,' Davoine said.

She said tensions had built over the weekend and employees wanted to open a dialogue with management while making clear that women should not be treated in this way again.

The dispute is no longer based solely on the account of staff representatives. SETE, the company operating the Eiffel Tower, has acknowledged that arrangements were made to limit interactions between the delegation and female employees and said the conditions 'should not have been accepted'.

That admission is significant, although it does not by itself establish who instructed individual employees to move from their positions or whether the conduct amounted to unlawful discrimination. Paris authorities have launched an investigation to establish what happened.

Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said the investigation would begin 'as soon as possible'. In a post on X, he described the employees' dissatisfaction as 'legitimate' and said it was necessary to establish the facts behind the protest.

'Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone,' Grégoire wrote.

Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France's National Assembly, also criticised the reported arrangement. 'Welcoming others never means giving up our values,' she wrote. 'In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible.'

BAPS Responds as Eiffel Tower Reopens

BAPS has disputed any suggestion that visitors were denied access to the monument. In a statement, the organisation said the private visit had been arranged at the start of opening hours because of the size of the delegation and to avoid disrupting other visitors.

'To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented from accessing the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, we sincerely apologise for any pain or inconvenience caused,' BAPS said.

The statement does not directly address the staff representatives' account that female employees were moved away from their workstations during the visit. That distinction matters.

The available reporting also establishes that arrangements concerning interactions with women were made and that SETE has accepted those arrangements should not have been allowed, but the ongoing investigation will need to establish precisely how the instructions were implemented.

The delegation's connection to BAPS is also important. The incident concerns a particular visit involving the Hindu organisation and should not be presented as evidence of a position held by Hindus generally.

Staff Seeks Assurance

The Eiffel Tower dispute has meanwhile become a political issue in France, with officials stressing the country's commitment to equality between women and men.

Staff representatives said management had apologised to employees after the incident, while workers used Monday's meeting to demand assurances that similar arrangements would not happen again.

The tower reopened on Tuesday, but the questions surrounding the visit remain. Paris authorities are investigating the circumstances, while SETE's acknowledgement has already established that measures were put in place to limit contact between the delegation and female employees.

The precise responsibility for those arrangements, and the reasons they were accepted, remain matters for the investigation.