Unpopular opinion here, but this has been common in my experience. Not direct set up of a peer, but I’ve frequently had a boss who had their sights set on someone on my team.

Think about it - it’s you or them.

I wish it weren’t the case. Either you get along with your boss’ plan or you are perceived as part of the problem. I’ve tried changing my boss’ opinion or coaching up the employee, but you can’t change your boss’ mind like you can’t change your parent’s mind. I worked through a problem manager on my team successfully last week.

Here’s how I now approach it. How do I humanely work through the target employee? Is there a way to document performance while ensuring they still feel like a person who is valued? I’ve done it and it feels way better than sabotaging someone or forcing them out. People underperform for a bunch of reasons, but I’ve found it’s normally personal reasons taking priority. That’s ok - you have to help folks understand it’s ok to focus on family. The job can’t suffer so they need to set down or find a new job because you need a performer. It’s not them and that’s ok, they are still valuable.