Why not use [removeIf][1]?

Write Your `Predicate` class:

 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 
 class SamplePredicate<T> implements Predicate<T> {
 public boolean test(T column) {
 return column.getValue() == "FIRST" || column.getValue() == "SECOND" || column.getValue() == "THIRD";
 }
 }

and use it:

 SamplePredicate<Column> filter = new SamplePredicate<>();

 columns.removeIf(filter);

 [1]: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/Collection.html#removeIf-java.util.function.Predicate-