Paris city hall has been fined 90,000 euros ($109,408) for having appointed too many women to top positions in 2018, in breach of a law aimed at ensuring gender balance.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo denounced the fine as “unfair” and “absurd” on Tuesday during a meeting of the city council.
In 2018, 11 women and 5 men — who represent just over 30% — were appointed to top positions in the Paris city hall, leading the Civil Service Ministry to impose the fine.
A 2013 law, meant to ensure that women get better access to senior jobs in the civil service, requires a minimum of 40% of appointments for each gender.
Since then, the law has been changed to provide for exceptions to nominations when the gender balance is respected overall.
In Paris city hall, 47% of all civil servants in senior positions are women.
“Yes, we need to promote women with determination and vigor because everywhere, France is still lagging behind (on that issue),” Hidalgo said.
The original march in 1963 drew as many as 250,000 people and helped pave the way for the passage of federal civil rights and voting rights legislation in the next few years.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will observe Monday's 60th anniversary of the March on Washington by meeting with organizers of the 1963 gathering and relatives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
A special session in the Tennessee Senate ended abruptly on Thursday without any action on gun control.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul asked President Joe Biden to help the state absorb a surge of migrants.
The Pentagon said it will train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets for its war against Russia.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Wisconsin to tout the Biden administration's broadband and affordable connectivity policies.
The Biden administration approved a $500 million weapons sale to Taiwan.
A pre-trial detention was extended for The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich until Nov. 30 by Moscow.
Eight Republican presidential candidates took to the stage on Wednesday in Milwaukee for the first Republican primary debate of the 2024 election season.
The bodies of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his top lieutenants killed in a Russian jet crash on Wednesday were sent to a nearby facility for medical and forensic analysis, according to Russian media.
