A study by Ohio State University shows it costs employers approximately $6,000 more a year to employ a smoker versus a non-smoker. In 1994, Kentucky enacted a law that made smokers a protected class. This law forbids employers from turning away a job applicant just because he/she smokes. The Chamber believes this is an intrusion into the rights of employers. Making hiring decisions and holding smoking to the same standards of discrimination as race, gender, religion and ethnicity seems arbitrary and without justification.