Wow! As I was documenting this, I've found a perfect recreation of the problem (on my computer at least). Again, this is IE7 on Vista. If someone that has this is still not able to recreate the issue, we can get specific with service packs and such if need be. I really want to get this fixed.
Ok... here we go. The site you'll be looking at is one that I am developing. The skins and layout may change, but this behavior should still persist. I'll post again if I have anything significant to add to the troubleshooting. Be sure to read the steps ahead fully before starting through the scenario. It's important that you do not hover over the menus by mistake. Also, I did not bother to clear cache, cookies, or change any other settings.
1. Go to http://piedmontok.org/dn
2. DO NOT hover over any of the menus. Navigate around them to hover over the expand/collapse icon on one of the containers. Click to collapse/expand.
3. The container will collapse/expand as desired. Your browser should immediately perform a postback (let this occur). When the page is rendered (remember DO NOT hover over any menus), the container may or may not be in the state you desire (didn't spend a lot of time on this part...)
4. You can click on the collapse/expand icon repeatedly now and it will continue to post back and reset itself.
5. NOW... hover over one of the menus (doesn't matter which)
6. Go back to the same container and click the collapse/expand icon. It should perform the desired action with no postback.
Please post any variations anyone has seen to this scenario.
Thanks.