User field does update if initially blank

I created a new content type and added various fields. One of them is a User field with autocompletion. I then created a table view using SimpleViews. When viewing the table all of the fields are editable. If I type a valid name into a blank User field, the name is not saved. This is true wether I type the full name or choose it from the autocompletion list.

If I add a name using the standard edit capability of a node, I can then go back to the table view and modify the User field and my changes are saved.

There is also strange behavior when simply looking at the node as it is normally displayed. My User field is called Suggested By. If it is blank, Suggested By does not even show up on the page. If I select Edit and add a user to Suggested By, it then displays but it is not editable as the other fields are.