WASHINGTON — Representative Charles B. Rangel is suing his colleagues in the House, claiming that his constitutional rights were violated in 2010 when lawmakers voted to censure him for a series of ethics violations, including failing to pay his taxes properly and accepting rent-stabilized apartments in Manhattan at below-market rent.

Mr. Rangel, Democrat of New York, is seeking to overturn the censure.

At the time of his censure, he acknowledged that he had made mistakes, saying “I brought it on myself.” But he challenged the censure vote, one of the most severe punishments the House can impose, saying his misdeeds were a result of sloppiness, not corruption.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in Federal District Court here, claims that the House ethics committee broke its own rules during its investigation of Mr. Rangel, including the inappropriate sharing of confidential evidence by investigators with Republicans on the committee. He also claims that he was denied the right to cross-examine witnesses during his hearing, and that some of the investigators had made racist statements.

Those violations were so serious, Mr. Rangel’s lawyer argues, that if they had become public at the time of the ethics investigation, the charges against Mr. Rangel, who is black, most likely would have been dismissed.