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I agree. OP has done themself no favors by kicking the can down the road. It was cruel to let them carry on this long without consequences. There is no need to heap on another cruelty. The fact that OP even has to wonder about this is depressing. You’re the boss. The buck stops with you. And that includes holding yourself accountable.

Give them pro-rata equity. if the cliff was on 1 year and they were fired 11 months into it, give them 11/12th of the promised equity and fire them today.

+1 to this. It seems that the underperformance was known well before this milestone. The only reason OP wishes to terminate the employee now is purely because the vesting date is approaching. Termination sans vesting sends a bad message to the rest of the employees. This is a bed OP may need to sleep in to save face.