[5][6][7][8] The Los Angeles Times claims that Vector meets the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) definition of a multi-level marketing company because they sell their product through person-to-person sales, but Vector argues that they employ single-level marketing and don't meet the FTC definition of "businesses that involve selling products to family and friends and recruiting other people to do the same"[9] because higher-level employees don't profit from the revenue of people they recruit.

[12][13] Sales representatives are employed as independent contractors to sell Cutco products (mainly kitchen knives) to customers, typically their friends and family members, via one-on-one demonstrations.

Vector Marketing previously required sales representatives to make a refundable security deposit to procure a set of knives for demonstrations.

Harris alleged that Vector violated California and federal labor law by failing to pay adequate wages and illegally coercing employees into patronizing the company.

[11] In 2014, a lawsuit alleged that a girl was violently sexually assaulted by one of her customers while working for Vector and sued the company for not providing her with adequate training to prevent the situation.

[33][34] In 2016, the company paid a $6.75 million preliminary settlement for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act in California, Florida, New York, Illinois and Michigan when workers sued for going unpaid for their trainings.

[35][36][33] In September 2017, Vector was sued in a class-action lawsuit initiated by a division manager who alleged that the company was engaging in unfair labor practices because, despite his position, he was still classified as an independent contractor, thus denying him access to overtime pay.