Cal’s Lindsay Gottlieb alleges Southwest questions about son were racially based

Cal women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb says she was asked to “prove” her son belonged to her before boarding a flight to Oakland on Sunday.

Gottlieb, who is white, said a Southwest Airlines employee in Denver asked for a birth certificate and later a Facebook post to prove her 1-year-old son was hers. Gottlieb said she already had provided her son’s passport.

According to Gottlieb, the Southwest employee said her questions stemmed from the fact that Gottlieb’s son, Jordan Peter Martin, has a different last name.

“My guess is because he has a different skin color,” Gottlieb said in a tweet Sunday night. Her fiance, Patrick Martin, is black.