I think an arguement can be made for bringing everything out into the open if filifera is comfortable with it. If his/her co-workers are aware of an issue they cannot make any comments about it at all. Right now should someone say anything they can say "I didn't know that was the case, I feel awful, I was just being stupid." If the facts are known, no one can claim ignorance. And unless these are total jackasses it may inspire some compassion and understanding.

In the case of a co-worker of mine, once we knew he had anxiety issues we viewed his constant absenteeism differently and no longer resented his ability to miss 90% of the summer and get away with it. Since I was going through the same issues silently I cut him a lot more slack than when I thought he was just going out and getting drunk every Thursday (payday) and missing every Friday.

Allowances were being made for him and I have to say that before we knew the whole situation, we were quite resentful of the special treatment he was getting.