Airline asks woman to prove she’s mom of biracial son

Southwest Airlines apologized to Lindsay Gottlieb, saying they had no ill intentions.

It was something perfectly ordinary: Lindsay Gottlieb, who coaches the University of California at Berkeley’s women’s basketball team, was about to fly with her 1-year-old son.

But her family then had what Gottlieb called an “uncomfortable and hurtful” interaction with a Southwest Airlines employee at a Denver International Airport counter. On Monday, the employee asked Gottlieb to “prove” she was the mother of her biracial son, even after seeing the toddler’s passport. The employee then asked for her son’s birth certificate, citing “federal law” — and proceeded to ask Gottlieb if she could prove she was the mother with a Facebook post, Gottlieb wrote in a tweet on Monday evening.

“We had a passport that verified our son’s age and identity, and both parents were present,” Gottlieb said in a statement Tuesday. “But still being pushed further to ‘prove’ that he was my son felt disrespectful and motivated by more than just concern for his wellbeing.”

Gottlieb and her fiancé, Patrick Martin, welcomed 1-yearold Jordan Peter Martin last May. Jordan has flown frequently with his mother and the team this season; and Gottlieb wrote on Twitter that she had flown with him approximately “50 times” before.

Gottlieb reported the incident to Southwest Airlines through Twitter and said that officials quickly apologized. She said airline officials told her they would make the incident a “coaching” moment for their employees — a reference to Gottlieb’s coaching job.