I have this problem on a Windows 2000 SP4 machine running OOo 2.0, which was
then updated to 2.0.2.  This problem is also seen on a fully patched Ubuntu
Linux 5.10 (breezy) system.  On the Ubuntu system, the version string reads
"openoffice.org2-core2.0.1-0breezy1" in the "About OpenOffice.org" window.

1) Start a new Writer document that has the default measurement unit set to inches.
2) Create a table that is 5 columns by 4 rows and accept all defaults.  
3) Right click in the table, select "Table..." from the drop down menu and then
select the "Columns" tab in the window that opens.  Enter a column width of
0.40" for column 2.  Close the window by clicking OK 
4) Attempt to adjust the width of column 2 by grabing the left side of the
column.  This should work as expected.  
5) Right click the table again, select "Table...", and the "Columns" tab.  Enter
a column width of 0.39" for column 2 and click "OK".  
6)Again attempt to adjust the width of column 2 by grabing the left side of the
column and the program should respond by selecting the right side of the column
and automatically pull it at close as possible to the left side, making the
column width 0.05".

Go to the "Tools" menu item and select "Options". From that window select
"OpenOffice.org Writer" -> "General" and set the Measurement unit to
"Centimeter".  Note that the behavior goes away and you can select either side
of the column and adjust the width as expected, regardless of the initial width
of the column.

This behavior occurs on all internal columns of a table.  I have also seen this
on a table with 16 columns and 15 rows.  Finally, note that 0.40" is the
smallest inch value that can be entered that is larger than 1.00 centimeter.  1
cm = 0.3937 inches.