On March 22 2022, the Twitter account @libsoftiktok shared a purported Home Depot “privilege” worksheet, assumed by readers to be an internal training document for employees of the home improvement chain:
Canadian bed-making enthusiast Jordan Peterson shared the Home Depot privilege worksheet on March 21 2022, also disapprovingly. Peterson retweeted a version of the image tweeted on March 20 2022, by an account that claimed a friend spotted it in a Home Depot employee area:
Fact Check
Claim: Photograph shows a Home Depot "privilege" worksheet used in employee training.
Description: A photograph of a Home Depot ‘privilege’ worksheet went viral, and many assumed that this was a mandatory internal training document for employees of the home improvement chain. The image set off a flurry of discussions on Twitter, with some users disapproving of the document’s content.
By March 22 2022, “Home Depot” trended on Twitter. Not all tweets objected to the content of the purported document; others expressed an intent to support the company:
In that tweet, Home Depot Canada was tagged. A closer look at the images showed the British and Canadian spellings of “colour,” as opposed to the American spelling without the “u.”
Versions of the document were shared on Reddit, too:
Twitter discourse typically addressed the content of and opinions about the Home Depot document. Rarely was the veracity or origin of the image the focus of any comments on posts featuring the photograph.
On March 23 2022, MarketWatch.com published “Here’s the truth behind that Home Depot ‘privilege’ training guide going viral.” The image’s social media virality was briefly addressed, and information from Home Depot’s corporate offices in the United States.
A spokesperson for Home Depot clarified that the privilege worksheet originated in Canada, not the United States:
… a company spokesperson told MarketWatch over email that while the “Unpacking Privilege” guide is authentic, the material actually came from Home Depot’s Canadian division, and “seems to have very limited views.” (Indeed, some eagle-eyed readers had noted that the spelling of words like “colour” on the flyer suggested this was not from a Home Depot in the U.S.)
What’s more, it was “not part of any required companywide training.”
The rep added that, “While we fully support diversity across our company, this material was not created or approved by our corporate diversity, equity and inclusion department. This was a resource in our Canadian division and not part of any required programming.”
On March 23 2022, “Home Depot” was a Twitter trending topic, due the spread of a Home Depot “privilege” worksheet in image format. A spokesperson for Home Depot verified that the image was “authentic,” but that it originated with Home Depot’s “Canadian division.” Additionally, the spokesperson said the resource was “not part of any required programming.”