There's legal implications that I don't understand fully. But laying off people you have already defined as poor performers can be a hedge against lawsuits for

There's legal implications that I don't understand fully. But laying off people you have already defined as poor performers can be a hedge against lawsuits for wrongful termination including the WARN act (and other state laws). For what it's worth, I wouldn't look negatively at someone who was fired due to alleged poor performance. Poor performance means different things in different context when rated by different people.