The Eiffel Tower closed on Monday after staff walked off in protest over the treatment of female employees during a private visit by a Hindu group, prompting the mayor of Paris to order an investigation.
Workers said women had been removed from their posts or asked to step aside so male members of the visiting group would not interact with them. A union representative described the affected employees as “humiliated” by the arrangement.
The dispute centred on accommodations made for the group’s religious practices, which staff said conflicted with French workplace norms and principles of equal treatment. The closure left tourists waiting outside one of the world’s most-visited monuments.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed an inquiry would examine how the visit was organised and who authorised the reassignment of staff. The monument’s operating company oversees daily arrangements and scheduling for the site.
The Eiffel Tower draws roughly six million visitors each year and regularly hosts private and corporate bookings outside standard hours. Labour disputes have shut the landmark before, though usually over pay and staffing rather than questions of gender or religion.
The incident touches on France’s strict tradition of secularism in public institutions, known as laïcité, which limits religious accommodation in state-linked settings. Unions argued that sidelining women to satisfy a visiting group breached both that principle and equality protections.
The protest fits a wider pattern of workers at Paris landmarks using closures to press grievances, echoing earlier disruptions at the capital’s monuments over unrelated causes.
City officials said normal operations would resume once staff concerns were addressed. The results of the ordered investigation had not been released.