while most comparators are open collector, this one isn't, it has a class-B output. The long term solution is to replace this comparator with a more suitable one but presently it is justifying the anticipated variations.
I did look at including a pull-up resistor and while this does permit the output voltage to be raised, it is still influenced by the output capability of this comparator so it doesn't fully mitigate the variation, hence the want/need to understand it.