I've had this problem with ALL the versions that I have used since March 2005.

Here is the sequence:

1) Place the pointer in a paragraph that has the required format. Left-click.

2) Move the pointer up to the format painter. Left-click (or double-click,
depending on what I want).

3) Move the cursor down in the direction of the paragraph to be painted.

As soon as the pointer re-enters the editing pane, and the cursor changes to the
paintpot, the page jumps randomly such that the source paragraph is no longer
visible. I must scroll up or down to find the target paragraph.

The workaround is to bring the pointer round the outside of the pane (for
example, down the scroll bar) until I am level with the target paragraph. I can
now enter horizontally to the target paragraph without causing the page to jump. 

Another forum user ("TheGurkha") found the same problem: 

"Yes, I see this too with 2.4 on XP.

It's as if there is a second 'cursor', an invisible one for the style painter.
When you enter the text pane it moves to where it was last.

It reminds me of the effect you get when editing text. If you scroll through
your document without moving the cursor and the start typing it hops back to
where the text cursor is."