April 28, 1994

NEW YORK CITY POLICE SUPERVISORS FACE ACTION IN INQUIRY Eight of the 22 police sergeants in the 30th Precinct in Harlem will be transferred and may be disciplined for any corrupt and brutal acts of officers under their watch, according to a law-enforcement official. The plan is part an effort to break up what has been described as departmental indifference to corruption. A1. DOCTOR GUILTY OF REFUSING AID A doctor was convicted of refusing to admit a woman in labor to Harlem Hospital, forcing ambulance attendants to deliver her baby in the hospital's waiting room and of later falsifying hospital records to cover up his actions. B3.

Shifting more of its focus to its core telecommunications business, Northern Telecom Ltd. of Canada has sold its financing arm in the United States to GE Capital, the two companies said today. Although specific terms were not disclosed, Northern Telecom said the sale price for the Northern Telecom Finance Corporation of Nashville approximately matched the $600 million value of its portfolio of receivables.

A chartered passenger plane returning from Atlantic City crashed into a fence while landing in foggy weather at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Conn., last night, killing seven of the nine people on board, officials said. The two survivors, who were both badly burned, were taken to Bridgeport Hospital, where they were listed in critical condition early today.

Plane Crash Kills 7 A chartered plane returning from Atlantic City crashed and burned in Stratford, Conn., killing seven of the nine people on board. Page B1 Basketball Gets Serious Chicago goes for a fourth straight title, and the Knicks face the Nets, as the N.B.A. playoffs begin. Page B11.

A growing number of private employers around the country are refusing to hire smokers as a quick-and-easy way to hold down health care costs. But just as swiftly, state legislatures are coming to the smokers' defense, passing laws that prohibit hiring practices that discriminate against them. While a hiring ban is a relatively new tactic -- less than 10 years old -- in the war against smoking, thousands of companies in the United States have forbidden their employees to smoke, even off the job. Companies say that not hiring smokers not only saves money but also improves safety conditions, cuts down on absenteeism and minimizes the need to train new employees to replace those who retire early because of lung cancer, emphysema and other diseases related to smoking.