I am looking for an equivalent of the French “mettre au placard”.
It literally translates as “to put in the closet” and describes the fact of assigning no missions to someone on the job without actually firing them. It is often interpreted as a way of punishing them for doing something that cannot be used as a reason to lay off someone (e.g. an employee refusing to maximize corporate profit through shady practices). There is typically no explanation from the employer, so these words convey the idea that the process is somewhat no very honest. This results in an employee showing up to work with no purpose and feeling socially and professionally excluded in the company environment.
I need a word or phrasing that ideally conveys both the malice of the process and the negative personal consequences.